November/December 2013

A P U B L I C AT I O N O F T H E I N T E R N AT I O N A L S O C I E T Y O F A U T O M AT I O N

Big changes for Fieldbus Foundation

Automation project justifcation
Field wireless networks
OPC Foundation open standards
Pressure measurement
special section

www.isa.org/intech
 secure plan(t)

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November/December 2013 | Vol 60, Issue 6
12
PROCESS AUTOMATION
18 Big changes ahead for
Fieldbus Foundation
By Larry OBrien
The Foundation Fieldbus spec is evolv-
ing with an increased focus on usabil-
ity and cross-industry cooperation. The
big discussion lately is the memoran-
dum of understanding about a poten-
tial merger of Fieldbus Foundation and
HART Communication Foundation.
The overall goal is to help users man-
age their intelligent devices effectively
and get the maximum beneft.
FACTORY AUTOMATION
24 Automation project
justifcation just
about the math?
By Dick Hill
Justifying an automation project re-
quires a view of the big picture. Every
change needs to make your company
more competitive, in both the short
and long term. Use that argument for
justifying your project, and back it up
with hard fgures.
4 INTECH NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 WWW.ISA.ORG
Setting the Standard for Automation www.isa.org
COVER STORY COLUMNS AND DEPARTMENTS
Next frontier:
Operator-automation 7 Talk to Me
Who done it?
relationship
By Eddie Habibi 8 Your Letters
Training college grads, frewall
Industrial control systems are complex
designs with little consideration to the reliability
needs of the human operator, which has
caused serious and costly accidents. By 10 Automation Update
empowering operators with the right Cyberattacks on water industry,
human-automation relationship tools, a By the Numbers, and more
company will achieve and exceed goals.
44 Executive Corner
SYSTEM INTEGRATION Remember the customer
30 Field wireless networks
45 Channel Chat
By Amit Ajmeri
Four key benefts of integrated
Industrial wireless has specifc require- safety control networks
ments for performance, reliability, and
security. Various wireless technologies, 46 Association News
including the ISA-100.11a protocol, Certifcation review
are employed to meet these require-
ments in areas such as topology,
48 Automation Basics
security, and customization. Thermocouples versus RTDs
AUTOMATION IT
52 Workforce Development
36 OPC Foundation open Workforce development challenges
standards in combating cyberthreats
By Thomas J. Burke
OPC became the de facto standard
53 Standards
for data acquisition for discrete and
ISA-100 wireless standard ap-
proved in IEC technical voting
process control applications, and has
evolved and revolutionized industrial
automation multiplatform interoper-
54 Products and Resources
Spotlight on pressure sensors
ability. The new OPC UA standard
moves to the next level, enabling
frictionless information integration.
58 The Final Say
Workforce sustainability in the
SPECIAL SECTION: PRESSURE MEASUREMENT process industry
40 Reference recorders
RESOURCES
shake up old standards
By David K. Porter, P.E.
56 Index to Advertisers
Continuous innovation has become the 57 Datafles
norm within the pressure measurement 57 Classifed Advertising
industry. Commonly used, decades-
old equipment is being phased out 57 ISA Jobs
by modern instruments. And today,
reference recorders are shaking up old
standards in pressure measurement.
 InTech Online
www.isa.org/intech
WEB EXCLUSIVE
The top four criteria
for manufacturing
software comparison
This survey explores criteria for selecting
manufacturing operations management
software applications and identifes the four
criteria users consider most important.
Read more at www.isa.org/
intech/201312web.
Breaking Automation News
News is not a 9 to 5 occurrence; it breaks out all the
time. So if you want to be the frst to know about
what is happening across the industry, click here.
www.isa.org/intech1/RSS
Automation Industry Connection
See what company is doing what at ISA Jobs.
Find out about people and positions.
www.isa.org/intech1/jobs
Products 4 U
Companies are releasing new products all the time;
fnd out the latest automation products hitting the
plant foor.
www.isa.org/intech/products
2013 InTech ISSN 0192-303X
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Find out about upcoming
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Black and white and read all over
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www.isa.org/intech/whitepapers
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Have an idea for a story? Pass it along to the InTech editors.
www.isa.org/intech/feedback
People in Automation
Technology is great, but when it all comes down
to it, the industry thrives because of the people
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shakers, to the real people behind the scenes,
fnd out about the heroes in automation.
www.isa.org/intech/people
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 Perspectives from the Editor | talk to me
Who done it?
By Bill Lydon, InTech, Chief Editor
Sometimes an old murder mystery novel
or movie is referred to as a who done
it, and when we have issues in automa-
tion, manufacturing, and production, we
have the real-world equivalent. The plot
of these novels and movies was for the
good guys to fnd out who performed the
murder. Throughout the movie the good
guys uncover information and use these
clues and their intuition to solve the mys-
tery. The most powerful tools the good
guys use are observation, questions, and
validating information. These are good
The lesson is we need to be
careful about the assump-
tions we make consciously
and unconsciously when
working on problems.
tools we all can use to understand who
or what done it when faced with auto-
mation, manufacturing, and production
problems and issues.
It is easy to jump to conclusions based
on past experience or what obviously
looks to be the problem. Many times at
this point, it is good to step back and ob-
serve without judgment and ask, what is
happening? As the great baseball coach
Yogi Berra once stated, You can observe
a lot by just watching. The most basic
level of observation is the gathering of in-
formation by using our fve senses: sight,
smell, hearing, taste, and touch. Based on
this information, we make qualitative and
quantitative observations. As technical
people, we tend to like quantitative infor-
mation that is absolute. But both types of
observations are valuable, and exploring
qualitative observations can lead to un-
covering information that is quantitative.
An operator, for example, can tell us a
production process is not running prop-
ISA INTECH STAFF
CHIEF EDITOR
Bill Lydon
blydon@isa.org
PUBLISHER
Susan Colwell
scolwell@isa.org
PRODUCTION EDITOR
Lynne Franke
erly; this is generally a qualitative observa- lfranke@isa.org
tion. We can then start looking at process ART DIRECTOR
data, running trend reports, and quantify- Colleen Casper
ing what is happening. ccasper@isa.org
When problems are particularly dif- SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER
fcult, we can make inferences that help Pam King
explain an observation we have made. pking@isa.org
The inferences are based on past experi- GRAPHIC DESIGN SPECIALIST
ences and prior knowledge that help il- Lisa Starck
lustrate what is happening. Inferences are lstarck@isa.org
valuable, but in unusual situations, they
become a velvet trap leading us to the
ISA PRESIDENT
wrong conclusions. Many times, we are
Terrence G. Ives
strongly infuenced by the last problem
we solved and assume this one is similar. PUBLICATIONS VICE PRESIDENT
This is where it is valuable and instructive David J. Adler, CAP, P.E.
to validate information as we uncover it. I EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD
recall, for example, spending a great deal CHAIRMAN
of time troubleshooting an automation Steve Valdez
problem and essentially going around GE Sensing
in circles troubleshooting control loops. Joseph S. Alford Ph.D., P.E., CAP
As it turned out, I was relying on sensor Eli Lilly (retired)
readings that should have been operating
Joao Miguel Bassa
properly and accurately. Unfortunately, Independent Consultant
there was an issue with a sensor interface,
Eoin Riain
resulting in bad measured data. After a Read-out, Ireland
considerable amount of time trouble-
shooting, I desperately started checking Vitor S. Finkel, CAP
Finkel Engineers & Consultants
all the system components and identifed
the faulty sensor interface. The lesson is Guilherme Rocha Lovisi
Bayer Technology Services
we need to be careful about the assump-
tions we make consciously and uncon- David W. Spitzer, P.E.
sciously when working on problems. Spitzer and Boyes, LLC
The popular fctional detective Sher- James F. Tatera
lock Holmes companion, Dr. Watson, Tatera & Associates Inc.
commented on a case, This is indeed a Michael Fedenyszen
mystery; what do you imagine it means? R.G. Vanderweil Engineers, LLP
Holmes replied, I have no data yet. It is Dean Ford, CAP
a capital mistake to theorize before one Westin Engineering
has data. Insensibly one begins to twist David Hobart
facts to suit theories, instead of theories Hobart Automation Engineering
to suit facts. In some situations, we
Allan Kern, P.E.
need to really drill down by asking ques- Tesoro Corporation
tions to get facts.
We can all beneft from listening,
observing, questioning, and validating
information.
INTECH NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 7
your letters | Readers Respond
Controller selection
Your May/June 2013
article Considerations
for selecting a controller
or server-based batch
sequencer makes good
points about how legacy
approaches to batch
automation are now
challenged to provide sophisticated control
capabilities that enable increased through-
put, lower costs, and improved regulatory
compliance.
The article positions controller-based sys-
tems as being more appropriate for less-com-
plex operations that require fewer upfront
investments, while the server-based approach
is heralded as the Cadillac solution. That may
have been true many years ago, but the article
does not acknowledge the recent advance-
ments in controller-based batch systems.
The latest batch automation solutions are
designed to manage all batch operations
entirely in the controller. No complicated
assessment is necessary. This approach pro-
8 INTECH NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 WWW.ISA.ORG
vides a single operating and engineering Cut the cable
platform for batch execution while meet- My comments concern the otherwise well-
ing the objective of ISA-88, of separating written article by Lee Neitzel entitled Six
engineering activities from recipe manage- steps to control systems cybersecurity in your
ment. It also reduces complexity and im- May/June issue. His suggestions refect the
proves availability and speed of execution. typical attitude by many, that when one fre-
An operator can create a batch and run it to wall does not work, then add another and so
completion without dependence on a serv- on. Rather than use four frewalls and other
er anywhere in the system. The absence of expensive paraphernalia, I suggest you simply
a server removes associated licensing costs, cut the cable to the Internet. This will give you
security concerns and maintenance issues, the best and least-expensive security.
as well as problems and production loss Hans D. Baumann
arising from communication latency.
Other benefts: Silver money train
n The operators view of the batch comes As you mentioned in Talk to me [July/Au-
directly from the controller and is not gust 2013 InTech], the industry is suffering
dependent on a batch server. Operators from the ever-growing gap between skilled
gain access to standard displays for all employees and positions in the petroleum in-
batch functions. dustry. The answer to correcting this revolves
n Plant availability is improved because around one single thing that could result in
batches are executed on a platform that many different approachesmoney. The in-
lacks a single point of failure. This can dustry professionals believe they are saving
drastically reduce the number of process money by saying there are no skilled em-
interruptions caused by hardware failures. ployees available. This is a scam to divert at-
n Moving batch execution into the control- tention and blame, as they reap the benefts
ler level can actu- of raises and pats on the back. As a college
ally streamline the student attending Lee College in Baytown,
process itself, and Texas, I can see clearly; please follow the pic-
eliminate the need tures that I am going to paint for you.
for plants to pur- First, the industry refuses to hire college
chasenot to men- graduates because of the lack of experience.
tion install or main- Almost every position being advertised re-
tainadditional quires at least three-to-fve years experience.
batch hardware or Second, these so-called educated man-
software packages. agement professionals are not learning
Using modern- from the plant tragedies of history and all
controller-based the lives lost. The mistakes were made by
batch control sys- not having qualifed, skilled employees and
tems (e.g., Hon- the silver-bullet layoffs and refusal to hire
eywells Experion and train people to have a formally qualifed
Batch Manage) al- understanding.
lows the execution This is what I call the magic silver bul-
of batch and unit let. Industry leaders can either spend the
procedures directly money to hire college graduates and train
in the controller them correctly to keep a productive and
to reduce system more trouble-free plant that can be classi-
complexity, and fed as lean tuning, or they can increase
improve availability the pay scale to attract qualifed employee
and speed of execu- candidates for the open positions.
tion. This can lower So, as you mentioned the silver-bullet syn-
costs by 5 percent drome, may I please add that you can only get
in improved pro- a silver bullet by a single way, and that is what
ductivity and 3 per- the goal of this article was truly about: money.
cent in reduced raw Maybe you should have considered naming
materials. your article The silver money train.
Chris Morse Troy Riddle
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automation update | News from the Field This content is courtesy of

Water and wastewater Improved maintenance

industry cyberattacks with portable vibration
increasing analyzer

A K
ccording to data in the Repository for Industrial imberly Clarks Loudon, Tenn.,
Security Incidents (RISI) database, the transporta- paper mill was one of the frst
tion and water and wastewater industry sectors plants to test Emersons CSI 2140
have both experienced large increases in reported cyberse- machinery health analyzer. After several
curity incidents in recent years: 160 percent and 60 percent, re- weeks of using the new vibration ana-
spectively. These fndings and many more were published in the lyzer, the plant reported faster comple-
2013 Annual Report on Cyber Security Incidents and Trends Affecting tion of their normal maintenance routes,
Industrial Control Systems. easier and quicker data analysis, and an
RISI is an industry-wide repository for collecting, analyzing, and sharing information overall more comfortable experience
regarding cybersecurity incidents that directly affect industrial control and supervisory working with the unit in the feld.
control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems. Industrial automation system suppliers, Multiple facilities like Kimberly Clark
end users, and international government agencies and research institutes have used RISI invested their time and experience in the
data for business justifcation, risk analysis, and a variety of research projects. beta test process for Emerson. Their real-
Industrial control system and SCADA security has been a serious concern for more world applications test the results users
than a decade, but has come under increased scrutiny following the discovery of the will achieve with the analyzer. Its very
Stuxnet virus in 2010, the Duqu virus in 2011, and the Shamoon virus in 2012. All of quick, especially with slow-speed equip-
these viruses specifcally targeted industrial control systems. ment, said Dennis Keaton, maintenance
The 2013 report includes detailed analysis of the 240 incidents recorded in the RISI mechanic at Kimberly Clarks Loudon pa-
database from 2001 through 2012. The analysis identifes where and when the inci- per mill. We run 1200 to 1300 points
dents occurred, the types of incidents, and the threat agents that executed them, in- per week, so the speed of setting up and
cluding the methods and techniques used to gain entry. The fnancial and operational taking readings is very important.
impacts on the victims are also analyzed.
The report includes detailed results and analysis from the second annual RISI Control
System Security Benchmark Survey. The survey data provides very interesting insight
Its very quick, especially
into the current state of control system security, especially when compared with the with slow-speed equipment.
data regarding actual incidents. For example, RISI data indicates that 33 percent of all Keaton
industrial control system security incidents were perpetrated through remote access.
This data is supported by 48 percent of survey respondents reporting that remote ac- An integrated analysis tool provides
cess to the controls systems is allowed at their facilities. the complete picture of asset reliability.
With the CSI 2140, vibration tools coex-
ist with balancing, temperature, trends,
Twelve control system integrators join CSIA and motor diagnostic tools. In addition,
The Control System Integrators Association (CSIA) announces the following control four-channel vibration analysis capabili-
system integration companies have joined the association: ties deliver insight into operating condi-
tions to help correctly diagnose complex
n Cogent Industrial Technologies, Richmond, British Columbia, Canada
machinery problems. Embedded intel-
n Fosdick & Hilmer Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
ligence guided Kimberly Clark techni-
n Ingautin de Colombia Ltda, Bogota, D.C., Colombia
cians through testing and analytics. Even
n Intecol SA, Medellin, Antioquia, Colombia
less-experienced technicians could conf-
n Intelligent Systems Integrator EST, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
dently monitor and diagnose equipment
n IS International Services LLC, Lawrenceville, Ga., U.S.
issues with minimal training.
n Kubica Corp., Novi, Mich., U.S.
In addition, the human-centered ap-
n Matador Controls LLC, Palm Bay, Fla., U.S.
proach to the design of the CSI 2140
n Outbound Technologies, New Hudson, Mich., U.S.
made an immediate impact. At Kimberly
n Proctek Inc., Bakersfeld, Calif., U.S.
Clark, with approximately 8,400 mea-
n Superior Control Systems Inc., Tempe, Ariz., U.S.
surements per month, the smaller size
n Trutegra, Charlotte, N.C., U.S.
of the analyzer made routes more com-
CSIA helps members improve their business skills, provides a forum to share industry fortable. Measurements in the dark areas
expertise, and promotes the benefts of hiring a certifed control system integrator. of the mill were much easier with the
CSIA has more than 400 members in 27 countries. brighter screen.

10 INTECH NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 WWW.ISA.ORG


Automation by the Numbers
$7.88 billion
According to a radio-frequency identif-
cation (RFID) sector survey by IDTechEx
Research, the RFID market will increase
from $6.98 billion in 2012 to $7.88 bil-
lion in 2013. It will reach $23.4 billion in
2020. The market includes tags, readers,
and software and services for RFID cards,
labels, fobs, and all other form factors for
both passive and active RFID.
The market for RFID has grown steadily
despite the economic meltdown due to
the diverse nature of its applications, from
tagging retail apparel to transport ticket-
ing to animals. Governments drive most
RFID orders as they improve effciency
(transit systems), safety (passport tag-
ging), and protective industries (animal
tagging). Since 2000 there has been a
strong push to use passive RFID to improve
supply chain visibility, with investment in
new RFID technologies, new standards,
and much publicity. As with most new
technologies, initially some aspects were
overly hyped and demand was not in
sync with capacity, but at the beginning
of 2010 the industry emerged from the
hype cycle and entered a period of rapid
growth and proftability for some. There
are different rates of growth for different
applications and many challengesbut
opportunities still exist. In total, IDTechEx
fnds that 5.9 billion tags will be sold in
2013, versus 4.8 billion in 2012.
News from the Field | automation update
This content is courtesy of
350
date, more than 500 different PROFINET-
enabled products have been tested and
certifed worldwide.
At the Audi factory in Gyor, Hungary, Sie-
$40 million
mens constructed a fully automated high-
bay warehouse that acts as a central body
buffer and occupies a key position within Endress+Hauser is set to serve its custom-
the production logistics of the plant. Sie- ers in North and South America with more
mens developed the controller of the stor- U.S.-made products. The Swiss specialist
age and retrieval machines and the convey- for measurement engineering and pro-
or system for the body buffer on the basis cess automation has invested more than
of its Simatic S7 controllers. The bodies are $40 million in expanding its plants for
conveyed by means of 350 Siemens electric fow, level, and pressure measurement
motors together with frequency converters. engineering in Greenwood, Ind. Produc-
The integrated-drive system has energy- ing, assembling, and calibrating at sites all
saving motors and can recover and store over the world is one of Endress+Hausers
kinetic energy. This means that it captures central business strategies. One important
braking energy, stores it, and makes it avail- factor for this concept to work is globally
able to other drives. The result: fewer un- uniform quality standards. The systems for
desirable network perturbations and lower calibrating fowmeters now include the
power consumption. In addition, Siemens latest technology for gas calibration.
set up an RFID system that uniquely iden-
tifes each body stored in the body buffer
and on its way through production.
$2.765 million
Representative David Price (D-N.C.), the
54
ranking member of the House Home-
land Security Appropriations subcommit-
tee, announced that ABB Inc. has been
The PROFI Interface Center (PIC) has com-
awarded a $2.765 million Department of
pleted a wall of fame in its test lab that
Energy (DOE) grant to develop technology
features PROFINET devices it has tested and
to help the energy sector enhance its cy-
certifed. The PIC is part of the global net-
bersecurity. The project is one of 11 recent-
work of competence centers, training cen-
ly announced DOE grants totaling more
ters, and test labs established by PI, the um-
than $30 million. ABB will lead a project
brella organization responsible for PROFIBUS
to develop a system that allows electrical
and PROFINET internationally. Certifcation
substation devices to work together to
of PROFINET devices is required through PI.
validate the integrity of communications
This ensures interoperability between prod-
along a power distribution network.
ucts, and the labs can support device ven-
The grant awards are a part of the
dors in case of conformance questions.
Obama administration and Congress com-
Manager of the PIC, Torsten Paulsen,
mitment to protecting the nations critical
commented, We created this installation
infrastructure from cybersecurity threats.
to feature all of the devices we have certi-
fed over the years and put them to use
as a real world test bed and reference
network. We currently have 54 nodes and
add more constantly. A wide range of
devices are incorporated onto the wall
including remote input/output, drives,
vision systems, human-machine inter-
faces, wireless, embedded diagnostics,
infrastructure, and security devices. To
INTECH NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 11
Next frontier:
Operator-automation relationship
I
By Eddie Habibi ndustrial control systems are complex de-
signs, but they do not give much consider-
ation to the needs of the human operator.
This oversight has caused serious and costly ac-
cidents. By empowering operators with the right
human-automation relationship tools, compa-
nies will achieve and exceed their goals.
Unprecedented prosperity
The world population is more prosperous today
than ever before. The average global per capita
gross domestic product has grown by nearly
tenfold during the past 140 years. By compari-
son, this measure was practically fat from 1600
to 1875, the period before the Industrial Revolu-
tion. The fastest growth in productivity emerged
after World War II and accelerated during the
past three decades. The U.S. economy explod-
ed, growing from $2.8 trillion in 1980 to more
than $15.5 trillion in 2012. Human ingenuity
and innovation made possible by connectivity,
information sharing, and collaboration form
the basis of this relative prosperity.
Unintended consequences
Specifc to industrial production, much of the
productivity growth in recent decades is attrib-
12 INTECH NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 WWW.ISA.ORG
Preclude operator
error, improve safety
and proftability
uted to advances in process automation tech-
nologies such as the distributed control system
(DCS), the historian, model-based controls, and
production optimization. Without much incre-
mental investment in plant equipment, auto-
mation technologies have substantially reduced
variability and cost, improved throughput and
quality, extended asset reliability, and delivered
incredible fnancial returns on investment.
Industrial control systems are complex. They
process and generate signifcant information
in real time, and were designed without much
thought for the needs of the human operator.
Serious and costly accidents have been the con-
sequences of this oversight. Chernobyl, Bhopal,
Three Mile Island, Piper Alpha, and Texas City
were some of the worst industrial accidents in
recent history. Human error is cited as the root
cause or a major contributing factor in every one.
Do not blame the operator
Unfortunately, there is a tendency to automati-
cally blame the human operator. Often, the op-
erator is unjustly blamed for such accidents.
An operator inherits a production facility as it
was designed and constructed. Traditionally,
the automation system confguration and the

resulting alarms and interfaces are designed
and implemented by engineers unfamiliar with
human-factors design. It is not unusual for an
operator to receive a barrage of alarms during a
process upset, or to search through fve displays
before fnding the relevant information related
to the situation. Operators, like most everyone
else, want to succeed at their jobs.
Understanding human error
Human error may simply be described as the fail-
ure to carry out a given task (or the performance
of an undesired action) that could result in dis-
ruption of scheduled operations or damage to
equipment and property. In process operations,
human error occurs when an operator fails to
take proper action (the right action at the right
time) or takes no action when action is required.
Human error can be divided into two general
categories:
Intentional errors occur when an operator de-
liberately performs, or chooses not to perform,
a task. In almost every case, intentional errors
are not malicious. Typically, when committing
intentional errors, operators believe their ac-
tions are correct or more appropriate than what
the standard operating procedure calls for. For
example, an intentional error occurs when an
operator deviates from a written procedure,
falsely believing that the procedure is incorrect.
Unintentional errors occur when a worker un-
wittingly performs, or chooses not to perform, a
task. For example, an operator might unintention-
ally enter 47 percent instead of 4.7 percent when
moving a control valve. Another example of an
unintentional error is when an operator does not
detect the emergence of an abnormal situation
and fails to take action entirely. These human er-
rors are generally referred to as accidents.
Two factors infuence an operators decision-
making process:
Internal factors that reside within the opera-
tor, such as tacit knowledge, experience, cogni-
tive abilities, fatigue, and work ethic, affect his
or her ability to process information and act
promptly. Management can infuence the in-
ternal factors through rigorous hiring practices,
training, policies and procedures, and overall
organizational culture.
External factors are outside infuences that
act upon the operator and impact his or her de-
cision process. They include the physical envi-
ronment and the information fow. The control
room ergonomics such as lighting, temperature,
and noise are components of the physical envi-
ronment. Sources of information fow encom-
COVER STORY
pass the telephone,
FAST FORWARD
the radio, conversa- l Industrial control systems have been
tions, and the auto- designed without much consideration for
mation and informa- the needs of the human operator, resulting in
tion systems. serious and costly accidents.
As an industry, we l Operators, like most everyone else, want
have to believe that to succeed at their jobs, but poor human
engineering results in confusing displays
all human error is
and alarms.
preventable. Other-
l Operators are true knowledge workers,
wise, the concept of and they can be empowered by applying
zero accidents, which the right human-automation
is the vision of every relationship tools.
industrial company,
is an unattainable goal.
The knowledge-worker operator
The console operator is the fnal human ele-
ment to interact with the production process
in real time. The decisions and actions of the
operator directly affect process safety and com-
pany proftability. Thus, the operator is the most
critical element in the success of any industrial
company. When the operator has a bad day, ev-
eryone in the company has a bad day, from the
chief executive offcer to the last shareholder.
More importantly, if the bad day involves ca-
sualties or a major environmental excursion,
the surrounding community suffers too. The
performance of no other individual has such a
direct impact on the proftability and the repu-
tation of a company.
It is time for the industry to recognize the role
of the operator as mission critical and deserving
of proper respect and investment. Peter F. Druck-
er, the father of modern management theory, de-
scribed a knowledge worker as one who uses or
creates information in the process of performing
a job. Operators have to monitor, analyze, and
take action based on thousands of data points in
World per capita GDP
16002003 (1990 International dollars)
Source: J. Bradford DeLong, Estimating World GDP, One Million B.C. - Present http://www.j-bradford-delong.net/TCEH/1998_Draft/World_Estimating_World_
GDP.html. Accessed Mar 5, 2008; Angus maddison. Contours of the World Economy, 1 - 2030 AD: Essays in Macro-Economic History. New York: Oxford University
Press, 2007.382. 2008, Matthew W. Kruse
INTECH NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 13
COVER STORY
complex, fast-moving, real-time situa-
tions. Operators are the ultimate auto-
mation industry knowledge workers.
Companies such as BASF place
signifcant value on the role and the
contribution of their operators. We
recognize the important role of our
knowledge worker operators in the suc-
cess of our company, says Chris Witte,
senior vice president and site manager
at BASF Freeport. We are investing in
technologies such as alarm manage-
ment, high performance HMI, and au-
tomation asset management to help
improve safety and asset reliability.
Situation awareness:
the operators blink
Situation awareness refers to the oper-
ators comprehension of the condition
of a process unit at any moment based
on his or her personal knowledge, cog-
nitive abilities, and the information
presented to him or her. Proper situ-
ation awareness is critical to success-
ful decision making in complex and
dynamic professions such as aviation,
frefghting, and industrial operations.
Operators with proper situation aware-
ness are more successful at analyzing
information, identifying critical con-
ditions, and taking proper actions to
mitigate undesired consequences.
In his groundbreaking book, Blink:
The Power of Thinking Without Think-
ing, Malcolm Gladwell tells the story
of a frefghter in Cleveland, Ohio, and
how he and his team escape a deadly
fre trap. After numerous failed attempts
to extinguish the fre in the kitchen of a
one-story apartment in Cleveland, the
lieutenant ordered his men out of the
building. As soon as they exited, the
kitchen foor where the men had been
standing collapsed. Had the men not
left the building when they did, they
would have been swallowed by the fre.
At frst, the lieutenant refers to his time-
ly judgment as gut feel or ESP, but af-
ter an extensive interview it is revealed
that the experience and the cognitive
abilities of the frefghter helped him
analyze the situation and arrive at the
correct decision in a split second. The
lieutenant had realized that something
was wrong based on three distinct
14 INTECH NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 WWW.ISA.ORG
observations: the
fre was very hot, it
was stubborn and
would not go out,
and there was an
uncharacteristic si-
lence in the kitchen
for the intensity of
the fre. That split-
second decision is
what Gladwell calls
blink. Blink is
that moment of ab-
solute clarity, when The historical marker in front of the Three Mile Island nuclear
the frefghter thin power plant reminds us of the role of human error in that accident.
sliced the informa-
tion presented to him and, based on his
experience, made the correct call.
Experienced operators, similarly to
Gladwells frefghter, have the ability
to absorb large amounts of informa-
tion, flter it, and connect the dots, and
then make split-second decisions and
respond to seemingly impossible situa-
tions. Proper situation awareness in the
control room leads to improved operator
comprehension of complex situations
and fast and accurate decision making.
During abnormal situations, a typi-
cal control system may present hun-
dreds or thousands of data points to
the operator. This is indicative of a bad
relationship between the operator and
the automation system. Management
must take steps to optimize the oper-
ator-automation relationship.
The human-automation relationship operator interface is also the proper
The most differentiating competitive
advantage in the consumer electronics
market is the user experience. Apple sig-
nifcantly raised the bar with its design
of the iPhone. In the past seven years,
the Apple iPhone has gone from being
the new kid on the block to selling more
units in one weekend than BlackBerry
did in the prior three months. The user
experience, more than any other factor,
made the iPhone the darling of the mo- The console graphical interface is the
bile device market.
In contrast, we can confdently claim
that, at least until recently, user expe-
rience and interface design have not
been viewed by automation vendors as
a competitive advantage. The primary
focus, instead, has been on making
faster and better process controllers.
Consequently, during a process distur-
bance when human intervention is re-
quired to rescue the plant, most control
systems generate an inordinate num-
ber of alarms, creating sensory over-
load and making the situation worse
for the operator.
The power and process industries to-
day face a serious challenge that is the
direct consequence of failures in the op-
erator-automation relationship design.
Challenges in the operator-automa-
tion relationship arise from incongru-
ity between the automation systems
user interface and the operators ability
to process information and take action
toward a desired outcome.
Improving the human-automation
relationship for the console opera-
tor begins with the user interface. The
portal for a comprehensive and fully
integrated decision-support system
that enables knowledge retention and
collaboration in real time.
A number of important elements
must come together to create an effec-
tive human-automation relationship
environment. These include:
High-performance HMI
operators window to the process. One
of the major user-interface challenges
today is the absence of an effective big
picture overview display. Unlike the
wall-mounted instrument panel of the
past that provided at-a-glance situation
awareness of plant conditions, con-
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2013 Honeywell
COVER STORY
trol system consoles today provide a
key-hole view of the process through
60-to-100 individual displays. Most op-
erator displays are cluttered, lack hier-
archy, provide no pattern recognition,
and use colors indiscriminately.
An effective resolution to the def-
ciencies of todays operator displays
is high-performance human-machine
interface (HP HMI). HP HMI displays
follow essential human-factor design
principles that include, among other
related display design best practices:
l Three levels of display hierarchy
l Grey-scale colors
l Chunking and grouping of information
l Pattern recognition objects
l Simple and intuitive navigation,
including pan and zoom
HP-HMI-based displays are minimal-
ist in detail and rich in useful informa-
tion. True HP HMI displays also include
the capability to easily integrate critically
useful information like alarm response
documentation, control logic interlocks,
checklists, and operating procedures.
Alarm management
The purpose of an alarm is to inform
the operator that action must be taken
to mitigate an undesired situation. An
effective alarm must be unambiguous,
unique, timely, actionable, and with
proper priority to convey the correct
level of urgency to the operator. Results
of alarm system performance studies
conducted by PAS indicate that most
alarm systems perform poorly under
normal conditions and, even worse, be-
come a hindrance to the operator dur-
ing process upsets. Alarm foods, dis-
abled alarms, and long-standing stale
alarms are three of the top culprits that
create confusion in the control room
and cause operator error.
The issue of ineffective alarm sys-
tems has been around since the advent
of the DCS. However, in recent years,
alarm management optimization has
become an industry best practice and
an opportunity to improve plant safety
and proftability.
A robust alarm management strategy
must include software to automatically
capture, archive, analyze, and report the
performance of the alarm system. An
16 INTECH NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 WWW.ISA.ORG
integrated documentation and ratio-
nalization engine is needed to facilitate
proper engineering of priorities and trip
settings and to capture causes, conse-
quences, and corrective actions for each
alarm. A master alarm database with
audit and enforcement capability en-
sures the integrity of the reengineered
alarm system. Dynamic state-based
alarming is an essential part of an inte-
grated alarm system that automatically
changes the alarm settings to properly
match the state of the process.
Boundary management
Capturing, monitoring, and perform-
ing strict change control on limits of
operability are crucial to safe opera-
tions. Typically, process and equip-
ment boundaries such as alarms, the
safety system trip point, pressure re-
lief specifcations, and other limits are
maintained by different organizations
within a plant. Operators usually have
visibility to alarm limits only. There
are two issues with the way boundary
information is managed in todays op-
erations: it is nearly impossible to en-
sure the integrity of the information
for all the boundaries associated with
a given piece of equipment; and opera-
tors rarely have access to all the related
boundary information in real time.
A consolidated approach is required
to manage the integrity of operational
and safety boundaries; this includes
strict management of change and pe-
riodic audits. Furthermore, integrated
operator interfaces are needed to give
the operator an at-a-glance view of all
the boundary limits associated with a
piece of equipment.
Procedural automation
Standard operating procedures (SOPs)
are step-by-step written instructions
that guide operators in the uniform
operation of a process. Many industrial
incidents happen when plant person-
nel either deviate from or ignore the
written SOP. Other times, incidents oc-
cur when personnel follow a procedure
that is out-of-date.
Procedural automation is an ef-
fective method for mitigating most
incidents that are caused by circum-
venting established SOPs. In 2010, ISA
launched a new standards committee
on procedural automation for con-
tinuous processes. ISA-106 refects
the combined best practices of several
global manufacturing companies such
as Dow Chemical Company, Aramco,
Chevron, and ConocoPhillips.
For over thirty years, Dow Chemical
has used a proprietary control system
[MOD] to implement state-based con-
trols methodology to improve operator
performance, enforce our operating
discipline, and signifcantly enhance
process safety throughout our com-
pany, said Yahya Nazer, Ph.D., manu-
facturing and engineering consultant
at Dow Chemical Company. We see
ISA-106 standards for procedural au-
tomation as an avenue for sharing our
experience with other companies.
Many automation system suppliers
are integrating automated procedures
into their new platform designs.
Integrated information portal
An integrated information portal pro-
vides simple access to supplemental
information such as operating pro-
cedures, checklists, and instructional
videos that improve the operators situ-
ation awareness. It is also a platform for
knowledge retention and collaboration.
Below is a summary of seven key ele-
ments of an effective knowledge reten-
tion and collaboration platform that en-
ables the integrated information portal
within the operators work environment.
1. Aggregate: capture existing infor-
mation or explicit knowledge that is
available in a digital form (e.g., de-
sign drawings, procedures, training
videos, and control system logic)
2. Author: allow operators and engi-
neers to enter contextual informa-
tion and expand the knowledge base
3. Contextualize: automatically recog-
nize relationships and give context to
information from disparate sources
4. Tag: allow users to categorize or
classify related points of informa-
tion by adding user-defned tags to
multiple information objects
5. Search: allow Google-like searches
on the process control and plant in-
formation networks. It is imperative
 COVER STORY

that search results be concise, accurate, and previously RESOURCES

vetted by designated subject matter experts.
Human Reliability, Error, and Human Factors in Engineering
6. Alert: allow operators to subscribe to and receive alerts that Maintenance: with Reference to Aviation and Power Generation
would notify them of an event, a process condition, or a task www.isa.org/link/humanreliability
7. Recommend: similar to the Amazon books recommen-
The Alarm Management Handbook
dation people who bought this book also looked at this www.isa.org/link/alarmmanagement
other, the integrated information portal must provide
The High Performance HMI Handbook
useful recommendations to help the operator improve www.isa.org/link/HMI
his or her decision process. For example, the system
Normal Accidents: Living with High-Risk Technologies
should recognize when an operator selects a pump to
www.isa.org/link/normalaccidents
start. It should then automatically present to the opera-
tor a checklist to follow. Reduce Human Error: How to analyze near misses and sentinel
events, determine root causes and implement corrective actions
www.isa.org/link/reducehumanerror
Death of the traditional logbook
Enterprise 2.0: The Dawn of Emergent Collaboration
The traditional stand-alone operator logbook, whether in pa- www.isa.org/link/enterprise
per or electronic form, is obsolete. The information commu-
Apple Sells More Phones Over the Weekend Than BlackBerry
nicated through the operator logbook is highly valuable and
Did Last Quarter
interdependent with other production systems. The operator
www.isa.org/link/apple
logbook can no longer be viewed as a stand-alone system.
In fact, the functionality of an operator logbook must be in- Automation Can Prevent the Next Fukushima
www.isa.org/link/fukushima
cluded within the integrated information portal.
Related ISA Standards Committees:
Summary ISA18 Alarms; ISA101 HMI; ISA106 Procedure Automation
Operators are true knowledge workers whose performance Visit www.isa.org/standards or www.isa.org/link/ISACommittees.
directly affects the companys proftability and reputation. It
is the responsibility of the power and process industries to
recognize and empower the operator in the same way that
the airline industry and the medical community recognize
and empower pilots and emergency room surgeons, respec-
tively. By empowering the operator with the right human-
automation relationship tools, the company will have a solid
foundation for safe production.
Fortunately, the new generation of industry executives
those who grew through the ranks during the digital revo-
lutionunderstands the critical role of the operator in the
success of their organizations. They keenly recognize that
the role of the operator is less about turning valves and
making set point adjustments and more about assessing
situations and making economic decisions in real time, of-
ten under adverse conditions. They are investing in their
operators and in new enabling technologies to optimize the
performance of their organizations.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Eddie Habibi (eddie@pas.com) is the founder and CEO of Hous-
ton-based PAS, a supplier of human reliability software and ser-
vices to the power and processing industries worldwide. He is a
thought leader in the areas of operator effectiveness, automa-
tion and information integrity, and web-enabled knowledge re-
tention and collaboration technologies. Habibi has an engineer-
ing degree from the University of Houston and an MBA from
the University of St. Thomas. He is the coauthor of two popular
books on industrial operator effectiveness: The Alarm Manage-
ment Handbook and The High Performance HMI Handbook.

View the online version at www.isa.org/intech/20131201.

INTECH NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 17

Big changes ahead
for Fieldbus Foundation
on the eve of twentieth anniversary
Fieldbus Foundation to focus on usability, cross-industry
cooperation, and the right work processes
T
By Larry OBrien he Fieldbus Foundation will celebrate its
twentieth year in 2014. It is also a year of
transformation into what could very well
be a new organization entirely, with some very
exciting developments for the world of intelligent
devices and plant asset management. Today, the
Fieldbus Foundation has more than 500 members
and affliates around the world. An installed base
of about $10 billion in products and systems con-
trols critical processes in the worlds largest plants.
Because Foundation feldbus is a truly open
standard (anybody can purchase our specifca-
tion or become a member), we can continue to
adapt to new technologies as they come along
18 INTECH NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 WWW.ISA.ORG
and evolve our specifcation to improve what
we already have. Some of the key ways we are
moving forward for 2014 and beyond include
discussions with the HART Communication
Foundation regarding a potential merger of the
two organizations, the development and release
of the Field Device Integration (FDI) specif-
cation, a continuous improvement initiative
called Project Gemstone focused on enhanced
usability, continued work on the ISA108 stan-
dard for work processes that use diagnostic data
from intelligent feld devices, and the further
development of the Foundation for Remote
Operations Management (ROM) specifcation.

Combining efforts
In our recent press release, the Fieldbus Foun-
dation and HART Communication Foundation
have signed a memorandum of understand-
ing to look into the possibility of forming a
new foundation focused on the requirements
of digital communications and intelligent feld
devices for the process industries. This seems
to be a natural ft for both organizations, and
indeed many people in the industry have spo-
ken to the Fieldbus Foundation over the past
several years about the benefts of combining
both organizations, which have a long history
of cooperation. Com-
bined efforts include
the electronic device
descriptive language
cooperation team and,
most recently, FDI.
A combined organization of Fieldbus Foun-
dation and HART technologies could better
leverage the complementary benefts of the
technologies. The new organization would cre-
ate more cooperation and collaboration. In ad-
dition, we would have improved economies of
scale through merging training and education;
seminars; testing and registration; participa-
tion at trade shows, conferences, and events;
online presence; and social media strategies.
While these efforts are still in the exploratory
phase and there is still a lot of work to do, this
is obviously the biggest and most important de-
velopment we are focusing on for 2014, and we
will keep the process automation community
abreast of our progress.
In the meantime, however, we continue to
pursue a number of other initiatives, all of which
are designed to make things easier for both end
users and developers in terms of device devel-
opment, usability, and getting the maximum
beneft from Foundation technology. These in-
clude the FDI specifcation; Project Gemstone,
which is focused on usability; our involvement
with the ISA108 standard for work processes re-
lated to intelligent device management; our feld
demonstrationprogramforFoundationforROM
technology; and our impending testing and reg-
PROCESS AUTOMATION
FAST FORWARD
l Potential merger between Fieldbus Foundation and HART
Communication Foundation creates industry buzz.
l Fieldbus Foundation focuses on enhancing usability for developers
and end users.
l ISA108 committee works to give users the necessary work processes
to use digital diagnosticsthe right way.
istration of devices and hosts that are compliant
with our Foundation for safety-instrumented
functions technology.
Field Device Integration
At the core of the FDI specification is the FDI
device package, which includes everything a
host system needs to integrate an intelligent
device. With FDI, each device is represented
by a single package that can scale according
to the complexities and requirements of each
device. Each FDI device package contains a
mandatory device description that provides
parameter definitions, structure for the pa-
rameters for context-specific views, and auto-
mated work processes for device procedures
such as calibration. FDI device packages may
also include user interface plug-ins, software
components that support advanced device
setup, and diagnostic functions. Product man-
uals, documentation, images, electronic certi-
fications, and other attachments may also be
delivered in the FDI device package.
FDI device packages make it easier for au-
tomation suppliers to develop and integrate
intelligent devices, because suppliers only
need to create a single, unified package for
each intelligent device that can work with all
host systems and tools. This reduces over-
all development costs, while preserving and
expanding existing functionality. Users will
also find it easier to manage information
from intelligent devices with a single device
package, instead of juggling different tech-
nologies and investing significant capital in
custom integration efforts to connect mul-
tiple technology platforms.
Project Gemstone
Project Gemstone is a continuous improvement
project that the Fieldbus Foundation launched
this past year. It focuses on making Foundation
feldbus easier to use for both end users and
suppliers. FDI is a major component of Project
Gemstone, but perhaps more important is the
formation of a new group focused exclusively
on usability. Like many of the activities at Field-
INTECH NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 19
PROCESS AUTOMATION
bus Foundation, Project Gemstone is
greatly infuenced by the requirements
of our End User Advisory Council. End
users have probably noticed the prolif-
eration of such initiatives at many sup-
plier companies, such as Emerson Pro-
cess Managements human-centered
design initiatives, and our usability
efforts are very similar. The whole idea
is to allow people to focus more on how
Foundation technology can help them
in their business versus managing the
technology itself. The ultimate goal is
making Foundation technology easier
to use than 420 mA analog technology.
A great example of this is making
device replacement easier. We have
already made enhancements to our
interoperability test kit that makes it
easier for end users to replace like-for-
like devices. In other words, if you are
replacing a device with a newer revi-
sion level of the same make and model,
we have automated this procedure to
Ask most end users why they made the investment in
Foundation technology, and they will tell you it was because
of the advanced diagnostics capabilities of feldbus devices.
restore the confguration of an existing
feld device in a newer version of that
instrument without manual interven-
tion. Our next step is to tackle the issue
of unlike device replacement, where
the end user is replacing a device with
the same type of device, but from a dif-
ferent manufacturer.
ISA108 puts work
processes in users hands
Ask most end users why they made the
investment in Foundation technology,
and they will tell you it was because
of the advanced diagnostics capabili-
ties of feldbus devices. According to a
recent survey by the Fieldbus Founda-
tion and ARC Advisory Group, however,
many users still do not invest in plant
asset management applications that
can truly allow them to take advantage
of the diagnostic information from
their intelligent devices and create a
condition-based or predictive asset
management strategy.
20 INTECH NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 WWW.ISA.ORG
FF standard diagnostic alarm
SD_FAIL_ALM
SD_OFFSPEC_ALM
SD_MAINT_ALM
SD_CHECK_ALM
One of the primary reasons end us-
ers do not realize the benefts of intel-
ligent devices is because they have not
changed their existing maintenance
work processes from the same ones they
used with the old 420 mA devices. Most
users do not even know what work pro-
cesses should be adopted, or how those
work processes should fow. The new
devices and applications are installed,
but the operators and technicians stick
to their old way of doing things, their old
preventative or routine maintenance
practices. They never really take advan-
tage of the huge amount of information
available to them.
The ISA108 standards committee was
formed in 2012 to address this issue and
provide users with the knowledge they
need to implement the right work pro-
cesses and really get the life-cycle bene-
ft out of their intelligent devices. Let us
be clear that ISA108 is not a Foundation
feldbus-centric committee, although
the Foundation is heavily involved. This
project applies to anyone who is using
intelligent feld devices on any network.
If you are interested in participating in
the ISA108 committee, please contact
Charley Robinson of ISA Standards
(crobinson@isa.org).
Making sense of the
diagnostics storm
Better diagnostics is one of the great
promises of digital networking tech-
nology for feld devices. All intelligent
devices can provide some level of di-
agnostics. There are several key differ-
ences with Foundation feldbus that
make its ability to provide diagnostics
NE107 status signal (5.1)
Failure
Out of specifcation
Maintenance request
Function check
unique. Two of these differences are
the sheer volume and frequency of di-
agnostic data provided. Foundation
devices can handle multivariable mea-
surements and transmission of mul-
tiple diagnostic data at the same time.
The diagnostics do not stop at the sen-
sor or actuator. Diagnostic data can be
provided for electronics failures, confg-
uration or servicing failures that are pri-
marily human intervention issues, and
application issues or process issues that
affect the measurement. These multiple
levels of diagnostics add up, until you
could reach over 20 diagnostic param-
eters for Foundation feldbus devices,
with more complex devices and actua-
tors having hundreds of parameters.
To get useful information out of these
diagnostics, you must have a good way
to manage and organize this informa-
tion. Some diagnostic parameters are
manufacturer-specifc, and at the end of
the day, this can be a real challenge. Pa-
rameters from device to device may not
be the same. Based on the root cause of
a diagnostic, however, diagnostics can
be categorized or assigned to different
functional areas, such as electronics,
confguration, or application.
The Foundation Fieldbus Field Di-
agnostics Profle specifcation was de-
fned to make it easier for end users to
access and confgure the diagnostics
in feldbus devices, regardless of the
manufacturers device or system. The
diagnostic profle includes a standard
and open interface for reporting all de-
vice alarm conditions and has a way to
categorize alert conditions by severity.
The technology facilitates routing alerts
to appropriate consoles based on sever-
ity categories selected by the end user.
In other words, it sends the right infor-
mation to the right person at the right
time without fooding the operator with
alarms that are irrelevant to his or her
duties. The feld diagnostic profle also
 2013 Siemens Industry, Inc.

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PROCESS AUTOMATION
gives recommended corrective actions
and detailed help, as well as an indica-
tion of the overall health of the device.
The Field Diagnostic Profle specifca-
tion puts all the necessary mechanisms
in place to provide context to diagnostic
data and turn it into useful information.
A major part of the diagnostics speci-
fcation is the inclusion of the NAMUR
NE107 recommendations for providing
diagnostic information in context to the
right people at the right time. NAMUR
NE107 categorizes internal diagnostics
into four standard status signals: fail-
ure, function check, out of specifca-
tion, and maintenance required (also
known as FCSM). Each category can
also contain greater detail. In the case
The Foundation for ROM specifcation can be embedded into
a range of products, including remote terminal units (RTUs),
controllers, and remote I/O modules.
of failure, for example, can the failure
be traced to the device or the process?
Is maintenance required immediately,
or is the requirement for long-term
maintenance?
NE107 standard status signals
The ultimate result is a series of new
feld diagnostic alarms that corre-
spond to the four primary diagnostic
categories outlined by NAMUR NE107.
Several standardized and therefore
manufacturer-independent parameters
are available to confgure the NAMUR
category, the priorities, and the fl-
ter mechanisms for the alarms. With
NAMUR NE107 diagnostics built in,
you can turn off diagnostics you do not
need or confgure how the diagnostics
are reported. This supports the confg-
urability mandate of NE107. Providing
recommended actions and enabling
simulation allows the information to
be presented in greater context.
Foundation for ROM
Remote operations management is the
management of automation assets and
resources that are geographically dis-
persed. It is one of the fastest growing
segments of the process automation
22 INTECH NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 WWW.ISA.ORG
business. Today, the ROM segment is
plagued with a high degree of custom-
ization, solutions that are not easily con-
fgurable, and a break-and-fx mentality
when it comes to asset management.
Foundation Fieldbushasnowexpanded
into the rapidly growing world of ROM,
from the digital oil feld to pipelines,
tank farms, and foating production
storage and offoading facilities.
Several years ago, the Fieldbus Foun-
dation began a new project that would
extend the functionality and infrastruc-
ture of Foundation feldbus out to re-
mote applications through the integra-
tion of remote input/output (I/O) and
wired HART communications. We then
expanded that project to include lead-
ing industrial wireless networks, such
as ISA100.11a and WirelessHART. Work-
ing cooperatively with ISA, the Fieldbus
Foundation has also specifed a long-
distance backhaul network technology
based on standard high-speed Ethernet
that connects remote assets with their
command centers. Today, our overall
Foundation for ROM specifcation is
nearly complete and ready to extend
our capabilities to manage data to a
limitless range of networks and devices
in some of the worlds most unforgiv-
ing applications. Foundation for ROM
is ready to address the rapidly changing
business challenges of end users in re-
mote operations.
The Foundation for ROM specifca-
tion can be embedded into a range of
products, including remote terminal units
(RTUs), controllers, and remote I/O mod-
ules. Once the Foundation ROM speci-
fcation is embedded in a device, how-
ever, its functionality expands to refect a
combination of the traditional functions
found in wireless gateways, process con-
trollers, and RTUs. Foundation for ROM
devices provide the protocol translation
functions of a gateway, but they go be-
yond the traditional functions of a gate-
way. They have the ability to represent
these devices as transducer blocks in the
Foundation feldbus infrastructure and
all the capabilities that it holds, includ-
ing data management, alarms and events,
data quality, and function block structure.
The Fieldbus Foundation, in partner-
ship with our demonstration program
sponsors, has been hard at work on a se-
ries of live feld demonstrations to show
the value of the technology. We had our
frst successful live feld demo in April
at the Petrobras Cenpes research facil-
ity in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Running on
one of the many Cenpes pilot plants,
the Petrobras feld demonstration of-
fered a look at the full functionality of
Foundation forROM,includingwireless
device integration, remote I/O integra-
tion, and wireless backhaul capabilities.
This demonstration was the frst step in
showing the capabilities of Foundation
for ROM before it is specifed for com-
mercial projects. We also performed a
demo of the technology at the Automa-
tion 2013 trade show in Mumbai, India,
in October, where we won the technolo-
gy advancement award for the show. The
equipment used on this demo will also
be used at our next live feld demonstra-
tion at the Reliance Jamnagar refnery,
which is the largest single site refnery
in the world and the largest Foundation
feldbus installation in the world. This
demo is scheduled to take place in the
frst half of 2014.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Larry OBrien (larry.obrien@feldbus.org)
joined the Fieldbus Foundation as global
marketing manager in April 2011. Before
his job at the Foundation, OBrien was
research director for process automation
at ARC Advisory Group, where he began
work in 1993. As an industry analyst and
market researcher, he covered the topics
of process feldbus, distributed control
systems, process safety, the automation
services business, and intelligent feld in-
struments. OBrien has authored or coau-
thored numerous market forecast reports,
strategic-level advisory reports, and white
papers for ARC and its clients, including
all the major process automation suppli-
ers. He has a B.A. from the University of
Massachusetts at Lowell.
View the online version at www.isa.org/intech/20131202.
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Automation project
justifcation
just about
the math?
Project justifcation is critical to
driving corporate competitiveness
C
By Dick Hill learly, any new automation project
requires economic justifcation. Al-
though this often involves hard dollars
and cents quantifcation of cost savings from
increased production, reduced raw material
costs, or increased uptime, it is also about soft
benefts, such as reducing risks and improving
agility. All contribute to making your company
more competitive. This article will focus on the
latter, while also highlighting considerations for
the former. It will also share some best practices
that ARC Advisory Group has identifed.
When considering a change of any kind and
researching the alternatives, it is very important
to understand that your business is likely to be
fooded with opportunities to invest capital and
that change needs to be justifed for the beneft of
the company. Personal or department goals need
to be subordinated to corporate goals. In the au-
tomation domain, a number of factors should be
evaluated for their economic contributions to a
justifcation. But it does not end there. Justifca-
tion must take into account the broader oppor-
tunity to better position your company for future
competition, likely involving greater agility, addi-
tional products, or improved quality.
Example items to consider in a justifcation
Maintenance and service costs: These costs will
increase for older equipment. Spare parts may be
diffcult to fnd. Direct replacements for a compo-
nent disappear. Those familiar with the technolo-
gies may become a rare commodity. In addition to
increased costs of repair, older systems are likely
to have a longer mean time to repair. If repair re-
quires production shutdown, this downtime will
clearly affect production throughput, and it will be
important to know your cost of downtime.
Energy costs: Older systems typically use more
energy. For example, fxed-speed motors are giv-
24 INTECH NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 WWW.ISA.ORG
ing way to variable-speed drives for energy sav-
ings. Loose process control may cause cycling that
can waste energy or affect product quality. Process
control designs can be improved while also im-
proving energy effciency.
Recycling and sustainability: These factors may
also be relevant in corporate culture or product
costing. Recycling costs or construction mate-
rials may fgure into the value of a system or its
replacement.
Improved control dynamics: These will also lead
to shorter start-ups, improved product quality,
quicker product changeovers, and quicker shut-
downs. These all have associated cost savings.
Removal of physical constraints: Modern control
systems, for example, may improve space utiliza-
tion even with expanded operations.
Improved data analytics: Todays advanced ana-
lytics can help streamline operations through sys-
tem modeling. Perhaps a new solution can rely on
data analyticsprocess modeling to remove the
need for physical product sampling. An example
of this is predictive emissions monitoring systems
replacing continuous emissions monitoring sys-
tems in some applications.
Added exibility: Existing systems may have
been designed and implemented for a specifc
product and purpose, but are diffcult to change
and adapt to new product or business require-
ments. These requirements can include product
variations or changes to batch or lot sizes. A new
system can provide a great deal of fexibility, which
could be a signifcant beneft for your business.
Now, for a couple of items that may not be as
intuitive:
Upgrades to complex systems, such as a con-
trol system, often allow companies to make con-
tinuous improvements over time, plan for grace-
ful degradation of an automation system, and
perform future expansions in a well-managed,

modular fashion. For example, redundancy is
typically a requirement in medium-to-large auto-
mation applications. But for smaller applications,
the loss of a display console may be compensated
for by a backup Web-based human-machine in-
terface direct to a controller. This level of backup
can come at a drastically reduced price, while also
delivering added fexibility and functionality on a
day-to-day basis.
A concentration on modularity for a new sys-
tem can deliver a great many new features that
can be surprisingly easy to implement. Perhaps
you will want a text message while you trouble-
shoot a challenging issue. Perhaps you will want
a special report while you are making some con-
trol enhancements to generate before-and-after
analytics. Or, perhaps you will want to plan ahead
for integrating additional sensors that you know
will be coming with a new enhancement down
the line. Relying on standards and leaving the door
open to third-party products and interfaces and
ad-hoc and short-term enhancements outside
the core functionality of a system could help your
company adapt to changing needs. Selecting the
right technologies and data infrastructures and
focusing on integrating best-in-class components
can address your current needs well, while also
signifcantly improving your ability to respond to
future and transient requirements.
What makes projects successful?
ARCs vice president of consulting, Dave Woll, did a
study on this very topic. Although some aspects of
the results were to be expected, some were enlight-
ening. Surveyed manufacturers, with a healthy
sampling of industry leaders and followers and and management, rather than ad-hoc solutions or
a middle category of competitors, enabled ARC
to uncover some important best practices.
Project success best practices:
The degree to which projects are considered
to be successful varies widely between the three
groupings of industrial companies: leaders, com-
petitors, and followers. Understanding the value of
automation also varies widely between the three,
and so does the degree to which projects are fund-
ed. However, at the leader level, there is a correla-
tion across success, understanding, and funding.
Leaders are more satisfed with their projects.
In fact, leading companies generally do not have
failed projects. They have systems in place to eval-
uate the merits of a project up front and then typi-
cally employ a stage gate process to reassess and
adjust project parameters over time. While overall
in the survey 70 percent of projects are consid-
ered disappointing or not meeting project justif-
cations, the majority of projects among industry
FACTORY AUTOMATION
leaders are considered
FAST FORWARD
successful. This tells us l Project justifcations involve an under-
that with the right pro- standing of the big picture: company
cesses, the outcome competitiveness.
can be guaranteed. l Project justifcations involve building argu-
Leaders clearly have ments that show an understanding of many
a better understanding business concerns.
of the value of automa- l Project justifcations involve thinking about
tion. When asked to alignment with corporate initiatives, not
just performance.
rate their understand-
ing, leaders responded
with an equal and high measure of both excellent
and good responses. The competitors and follow-
ers in the feld were nowhere near as confdent in
their value propositions.
Leaders get more projects funded. Over 80
percent of leader respondents highlighted that
more than 60 percent of projects considered
are funded. Compare this to the approximately
25 percent of projects successfully funded from
other respondents.
In a surprising result, leaders include nonquan-
tifable benefts, indirect benefts, and life-cycle
considerations in their analysis; a signifcant num-
ber of respondents in the competitor and follower
category indicated that they did not. Almost all
companies include an analysis of total life-cycle
cost in their project justifcation process.
Another surprising result was that leaders spend
50 percent less time performing risk analysis for a
project than both competitors and followers. The
takeaway here is that they focus on upfront de-
sign and then on project management, to assure
a quality outcome. Leaders also leverage commer-
cial tools or purchased tools for project evaluation
systems on a case-by-case basis.
All respondents recognized the importance of
keeping the same project team for the duration of
a project. More than 75 percent responded in the
affrmative.
When asked how they apportion the benefts of
consultants, fnancial balance, and rules of thumb,
leaders showed an equal respect for each. Other
respondents gave a much higher weighting (two
to one) to rules of thumb. This likely speaks to the
lack of rigor, or goes back to the poor understand-
ing of the automation project benefts when jus-
tifying projects. Consultants play a major role in
helping leaders justify projects. In fact, according
to the survey results, leaders weighed the impor-
tance of engaging consultants at over two to one
with respect to both best operator advice and rules
of thumb.
When reviewing the calculations for economic
return, return on investment (ROI) was the most
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FACTORY AUTOMATION
predominant method used. Other
methods included economic value add-
ed, return on invested capital, and re-
turn on capital employed. ROI exceeded
all other methods combined.
Finally, when surveyed about the
involvement of upper management in
project justifcations, leaders indicat-
ed that projects were more successful
when management took an active role
in the entire process, from project justi-
fcation to implementation. This likely
drives transparency and improved
communications to arrive at the de-
sired outcome.
Conclusion
Many factors will affect the success of
automation or related information tech-
nology projects. But frst considerations
should be based on overall company di-
rectives with respect to its competitive
stance. What will make the company
more competitive in the future, and how
can this project infuence that?
Then, it is important for everyone
to be involved with the process. Com-
municate widely throughout your or-
ganization. Consider all alternatives
and reevaluate and tune the process
to drive toward your desired outcome.
If your staff is new or inexperienced in
making this type of strategic decision,
involve industry experts to assist with
selection criteria development, archi-
tecture development, vendor selec-
tion, or cost justifcation. However, do
not delegate the responsibility com-
pletely. Make it a team effort.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dick Hill (DHill@arcweb.
com) is vice president
and general manager of
ARCs manufacturing ad-
visory services. Hill is re-
sponsible for developing
the strategic direction for ARC products,
services, and geographical expansion. He
is also responsible for covering advanced
software business worldwide. In addi-
tion, he provides leadership for support
of ARCs manufacturing advisory service
team and clients.
View the online version at www.isa.org/intech/20131203.
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Field wireless networks
By Amit Ajmeri
ISA-100.11a and other wireless technologies are making
inroads into process control and measurement applications
I
ndustrial wireless devices and networks
are used for measurement and control ap-
plications in areas of process plants where
it is too diffcult or too expensive to hard-
wire sensors, transmitters, and fnal control ele-
ments. They are also used for temporary appli-
cations, such as in research and development
and pilot plants. Although most consumer wire-
less networks are used for convenience, indus-
trial feld wireless networks must be much more
reliable, and cannot interfere with other wire-
less applications in the plant. These networks,
and their accompanying wireless devices, must
also be simple for existing plant personnel to
support. Finally, industrial wireless networks
and devices must easily integrate with exist-
ing wired devices and networks, and the entire
wireless system must be fexible and scalable.
Wireless solutions for the process industry
There are three basic areas in which industrial
feld wireless networks can operate in the pro-
cess industry: the global canopy, a site back-
bone, and a feld mesh. The global canopy is the
term used for long-range wireless communica-
tion. It can be made up of a site-to-site private
network joining locations up to hundreds of
miles apart, or it can use public networks, such
as the Internet, a satellite, or cellular commu-
30 INTECH NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 WWW.ISA.ORG
nications. This type of network is used for data
transmission over very long distances.
A site backbone is a good solution in cases
where data is transmitted from cell-to-cell
within a transmission distance of a few miles.
Although the distances covered are shorter than
with a global canopy, a site backbone network
can still be used to transmit data over relatively
long distances.
A feld mesh or wireless sensor network is used
for sending and receiving a few kilobytes (kB) of
data over a short range up to a few hundred feet.
These feld wireless networks are comprised of
sensors and actuators, feld mobile devices, and
feld end pointsand these types of networks
will be the focal point of this article.
Frequency bands
Communication frequency is one of the most im-
portant factors when implementing a feld wireless
network. The 2.4-gigahertz (GHz) wireless com-
munication frequency band is most commonly
used for industrial applications. It is part of the in-
dustrial, scientifc, and medical (ISM) radio bands
that were originally reserved for international use
of radio-frequency energy for ISM purposes, as op-
posed to telecommunications.
The ISM band has become the de facto standard
because it is available worldwide and does not re-

quire licensing. Within that band, 2.4-GHz com-
munications are used in the following standards:
l IEEE 802.11b/g/n (Wi-Fi) is used for a wireless
local area network with communication dis-
tances of 300 to 900 feet with a data communi-
cation rate of a few megabytes per second.
l IEEE 802.15.1 is used for Bluetooth communi-
cations that require extremely low power over a
short communication range of 3 to 30 feet.
l IEEE 802.15.4 is a self-organizing, self-healing
mesh network used in low-power personal
area networks. ZigBee, ISA-100.11.a, and Wire-
lessHART use variations of this standard.
l IEEE 802.16e is used for the WiMax communi-
cation protocol and covers a 3- to 30-mile range
with a data transmission rate of approximately
72 megabytes per second.
Wireless for industrial automation
Figure 1 depicts various types of networks within
a plant. Wireless sensors (XC, XX, XV, etc.) are at
the bottom of the diagram. The architecture may
include a wireless sensor network working at a re-
mote location exchanging data with the process
control network using IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi or IEEE
802.16 WiMax technologies.
Located at the next level up, between the distrib-
uted control system and programmable logic con-
troller automation systems and the wireless sen-
sors, are access points or gateways. Gateways are
the interface points between the wireless network
and the host automation system. The gateway
talks to the sensors wirelessly, and communicates
with the automation system using wired protocols,
such as serial Modbus, Modbus TCP, or Ethernet
IEEE 802.3. With most wired protocols distance is
a limiting factor, so the gateways are typically lo-
cated close to the automation system.
In most industrial applications, there are
Asset tracking
Corporate LAN RFID
&
Net management RTL
Net security
Process control LAN Mobile operator
802.3x
Serial
Self-organizing mesh network
802.15.4 Channel hopping
Reliable
Secure
Mesh to the edge
Easy to adopt
Figure 1. Various wired and wireless network types are often found
in a typical manufacturing facility.
SYSTEM INTEGRATION
FAST FORWARD
l Various wireless topologies can be employed to meet the
demands of industrial wireless applications, including star, tree,
mesh, and cluster.
l Industrial wireless protocols typically provide security features,
such as encryption, authentication, and key management, to
ensure protected communications.
l Reliability is assured through redundancy, intelligent channel
hopping, time synchronization, and other features.
other devices using wireless communications,
such as cameras, radio frequency identifcation
(RFID) systems and cell phonesso methods
must be devised to reduce interference and en-
sure reliable communications.
Network topologies
Wireless network topologies can be used, depend-
ing on application requirements, including star,
tree, mesh, and cluster. The ISA-100.11a protocol
supports all these (fgure 2).
The star topology is typically used with reduced
function devices that are only powered by batter-
ies. Full function devices that work with batter-
ies or line power are more adaptable for use with
other topologies.
The most basic network type is the star topology
with one functioning routing or center node that
sends and receives information from all the end
nodes. Thus, the end nodes only have one function:
transmitting data to the center node. As a result, the
end nodes consume very little power, because they
only send information to the center node, then go
back into sleep mode. In addition to reducing the
energy needs at end nodes, the star topology pre-
vents any end node failure from affecting the rest
of the network, because every end node device is
isolated from the larger network by the link that
connects it to the center node.
Security
802.11x
802.16y
PAN-coordinator (FFD)
Reduced function device Full function device
Coordinator/routing node (FFD) (RFD) (FFD)
End node (RFD) Only star topology Star, mesh, and cluster
Leaf node Coordinator
Battery power Line or battery power
Figure 2. Network topologies for wireless networks can be a
single star or tree topology or combinations of topologies,
such as a mesh or cluster.
INTECH NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 31
SYSTEM INTEGRATION

The mesh topology is comprised of and the cluster network is a combination security manager can exchange data.
nodes that can each route data from of star and mesh networks. l Integrity: Each data point uses an
neighboring nodes as long as they are end-to-end media access control
in the same radio frequency range. The Security (MAC) address to ensure data integ-
mesh network system provides reliable, Security is a critical factor for industrial rity and transport security.
secure data transmissions and is highly wireless systems used in the process in- l Key management: All wireless de-
scalable. If a path via one node or a set of dustries, so mechanisms for protecting vices must have a join key that acts
nodes is not working, a node can route its the wireless network must be imple- as a password that the device uses
data to a neighboring node, with the in- mented. The ISA-100.11a standard has to authenticate it to the network.
formation eventually reaching the desti- several security measures that can keep This is a key differentiator for the
nation node via this alternate path. the network safe, including: ISA-100.11a protocol.
The tree and cluster topologies are a l Encryption: Each ISA-100.11a data Authentication key management and
combination of the star and mesh net- communicator has 128-bit encryption. join-process technology enhance the se-
works. The tree network has one commu- l Authentication: Only devices authen- curity of the network by preventing an
nication node with star nodes below it, ticated by the system manager and unauthorized node from joining the net-
work. All node authentications are con-
trolled by the network security manager,
Understanding the ISA100 series of standards which requires any device joining the net-
work to provide all its credentials in an en-
ISA100 is a multi-national, multi-industry standards development initiative of ISA, an ac- crypted fashion (join key) to the gateway.
credited member organization of the American National Standards Institute. The ISA100 Each data packet has a 128-bit encryp-
program was launched to create a reliable and universal family of wireless standards and tion. End-to-end basis transport security
guidelines for industrial automation applications. It is a market-driven (not vendor-driven) includes message-level security, such as
standards development program created by a committee that includes end users. The message encryption, as well as transport-
end users actively participate and vote on decisions regarding the standards and on re- level security, such as Windows.
quirements for wireless plantwide communications. The network administrator gives all
The ISA100 committee is organized into several working groups (WG), including: wireless devices a join key and sets the pa-
n WG14, Trustworthy Wireless, to improve the reliability and security of wireless, as rameters required to access the network.
well as to simplify confguration and usage in a plant environment Once the join key is recognized and the
n WG15, Wireless Backhaul Network, focusing on middle-range cell communica- device has joined the network, the security
tions within the plant environment manager issues it additional keys (master,
n WG16, Factory Automation, to cover a completely separate requirement for data session, and private) for further commu-
latency compared with that of the process industries nication. These keys should be periodi-
n WG18, Power Sources, to improve battery standardization cally updated, because limiting their life
n WG20, Common Network Management (CNM), to present a CNM framework spans further protects the network.
to monitor and provide actionable information to various and disparate wireless The hop-by-hop MAC address secu-
networks commonly found in wireless network environments for industrial auto- rity requires every data element transmit-
mation and control systems. The framework will be scalable to address various ted between two wireless nodes to provide
network sizes and device populations and extensible to adapt to changing tech- the MAC address of the originating node
nologies, applications, and user requirements. as well as the end node for extra security.
ISA-100.11a-2011 was approved as an ISA and American National Standard in 2011,
and is currently nearing fnal approval by the International Electrotechnical Commission Coexistence strategy
as IEC 62734. Since many wireless standards use the
Other documents developed by ISA100 include: 2.4-GHz frequency band, it is very impor-
n ISA-TR100.15.01-2012 Backhaul Architecture Model: Secured Connectivity tant that the various wireless technologies
over Untrusted or Trusted Networks (Wi-Fi, WirelessHART, ZigBee, ultrawide
n ISA-TR100.14.01-Part I-2011 Trustworthiness in Wireless Industrial Automa- band, and others) can operate together on
tion: Part 1, Information for End Users and Regulators the band. Among the best methods for es-
n ISA-TR100.00.03-2011 Wireless User Requirements for Factory Automation tablishing coexistence among the various
n ISA-TR100.00.02-2009 The Automation Engineers Guide to Wireless wireless communication devices are spec-
Technology: Part 2 A Review of Technologies for Industrial Asset Tracking trum spreading, frequency hopping, and
n ISA-TR100.00.01-2006 The Automation Engineers Guide to Wireless time slotted and scheduled transmissions.
Technology Part 1: The Physics of Radio, a Tutorial Electronic and electrical noise within an
For more information, visit www.isa.org/fndstandards and select 100 from the industrial plant can cause disturbances if
drop-down list. protective measures are not taken. Lower-
power radio technology with a spectrum-

32 INTECH NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 WWW.ISA.ORG

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SYSTEM INTEGRATION
spread technique deployed at a 200-kB
rate helps overcome the noise problem.
Data is distributed among various chan-
nels, then collected and reassembled by
the receiver. Frequency hopping, in which
the data rapidly switches among many
frequency channels, helps avoid conges-
tion. These techniques are also a good
way to increase security, because both the
spectrum-spread code and frequency-
hopping patterns are necessary to retrieve
the data sent over the network.
Synchronized timing enables multiple
access capabilities by assigning each de-
vice a particular time slot to avoid colli-
sions. Deterministic transmitting (TDMA)
can also save power, because only the
sending and receiving devices must be
awake during the data transmission.
TDMA offers synchronized time sense
in which each subnet gets time-synched
data from the network protocol server,
ensuring that all wireless network data
transmissions occur at the proper times.
Other methods for overcoming obsta-
cles are multipath mesh networks and in-
telligent channel hopping. Wireless mesh
networks route traffc toward the Internet
gateway (IGW), or from the IGW to the
access points. When multiple devices at-
tempt to select the best throughput path
toward a gateway, the traffc on these
paths can diminish the speed and perfor-
mance of the network. A multipath mesh
network seeks alternative paths during
times of congestion.
ISA-100.11a also supports the black list-
ing of channels. For example, suppose a
plant uses Wi-Fi channel 3 for ISA-100.11a
communications, and channels 21 and
24 for general Wi-Fi communications.
The system manager can be confgured
so channels 21 and 24 are blacklisted for
ISA-100.11a communications to avoid per-
formance issues on the network. In this
scenario, there are two separate channels:
one channel for the Wi-Fi and one for ISA-
100.11a communications, enabling the two
wireless technologies to coexist in the plant.
Reliability
Reliability is of paramount impor-
tance for industrial process control and
measurement applications, and the
ISA-100.11a standard has numerous
techniques for ensuring reliable commu-
34 INTECH NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 WWW.ISA.ORG
nications such as redundancy, intelligent
channel hopping, duocast technology,
and time synchronization.
A mesh network offers redundancy, be-
cause it can reroute data from one node
to the destination mode, avoiding the ob-
structed node. For additional reliability,
redundancy can also be implemented at
the gateway, backbone, security system,
and system manager. For example, if one
backbone router fails, the other router re-
trieves the data from the sensors, and then
sends the information to the gateway.
Another method to ensure accurate
throughput is channel hopping, where
clear channel access technology dynami-
cally chooses different channels of opera-
tion to avoid interference (fgure 3). In ad-
dition, frequent retry attempts are made
to limit data latency to 100 ms or less.
ISA-100.11a also supports duocast for
redundant connectivity in which one de-
vice sends information to two neighbor-
ing nodes simultaneously. The two receiv-
ing nodes send a confrmation from both
end devices in the same time slot. Without
duocast, if one communication path fails,
a retry attempt is used before going to a
neighboring channel to transmit the data,
which can slow communications.
Time synchronization is highly accu-
rate, because each data packet is time
stamped using International Atomic
Time. All data has a time slot allocation,
and the data must reach its end destina-
tion and receive a confrmation from each
node within that time slot. There is a lim-
ited time to capture the data packet and
Figure 3. Channel hopping allows wireless devices to dynamically choose different
channels of operation to avoid interference.
decipher the information, which provides
secure communication.
Scalability and exibility
Each ISA-100.11a end device uses Inter-
net Protocol version 6 (IPv6), the newest
Internet technology. This helps future
proof the network by enabling access
from a feld wireless node using the latest
IP technologies. The ISA-100.11a protocol
has many features for scalability in terms
of the number of nodes that can be added,
as well as how much area can be covered.
To expand the network and add more
nodes, an additional backbone router
can be added to create a subnet. Multiple
subnets, slow-hopping mode, protocol
mapping, and tunneling and backbone
routing are all examples of the multiple
functions of the ISA-100.11a architecture.
For fast frmware downloads and in-
creased staff mobility, ISA-100.11a sup-
ports the slow-hopping mode using car-
rier sense multiple access. This enables a
channel to be locked for a specifc period,
instead of hopping every 10 ms. The slow-
hopping mode is particularly benefcial
when performing a frmware download
to upgrade a radio or sensor electronics
for a wireless node. It also facilitates using
a handheld device for calibration checks,
and for confguring a specifc device.
Protocol mapping and tunneling reduce
infrastructure costs by supporting legacy
protocols and combined wired and wireless
integrations. The ISA-100.11a architecture
supports many existing protocols, includ-
ing Foundation Fieldbus, HART, Profbus,
 SYSTEM INTEGRATION

Modbus, and CIP. The ISA-100.11a stack in-
cludes provisions for protocol mapping and
tunneling to enable Foundation Fieldbus,
HART, and Profbus to use the ISA-100.11a
sors, while another provides a
1-second update rate for con- Protocol mapping and tunneling
trol applications.
ISA-100.11a supports peer-
Field device

Maint. sys.
stack for wireless communications. ISA- to-peer control communica- Routing device
Nonrouting device Handheld device

100.11a is targeted for measurement and tions, so the data from a mea- Backbone device
R Backbone router
M System manager
G Gateway
S Security manager
control applications that can function with suring device does not need to Route 1
Route(s) 2...n

a 1-second data rate, and it also supports go to the gateway, but can in-

Control system
Plant network
peer-to-peer communications for propor- stead be transmitted directly to FF
tional, integral, derivative loop scheduling. the fnal end control element.
A HART device can transmit data by These peer-to-peer communi-
putting an ISA-100.11a wrapper on top of cations enable data exchange

PLC
the HART data, and then sending the data from one wireless node to an-
Profibus
through the wireless network router (fgure other within a high-speed sub- Multiple protocols at device and host:
4). When the data is received at the gate- net for 1-second updates. Single wireless NW supports many applications
way, the ISA-100.11a wrapper is removed, An ISA-100.11a wireless Figure 4. The ISA-100.11a standard can support multiple
and the HART data is sent to the network. network can be deployed and protocols simultaneously on a single network.
reconfgured through device
Customizable network performance installation and software confguration systems, and software to support the latest
To support control applications, a subnet and changesinstead of requiring bur- wireless technologies from temperature
can be created with a 1-second data up- densome wiring, addition of I/O mod- and pressure sensors, gateways, and more.
date rate via direct communications to the ules, programming, and possible up- Interoperability testing and certif-
backbone router. This enables a 1-second grades to the automation system. Many cation from the ISA100 Wireless Com-
transmission speed from the node to the of the ISA-100.11a system components, pliance Institute (www.isa100wci.org)
automation system. such as the backbone routers and the sys- ensures all manufacturers wireless de-
Multiple subnets can work in the same tem manager, are designed as function vices can communicate with the back-
physical space and share a single wire- modules that can be added or removed bone router and gateway without prob-
less network with fexible customization depending on system requirements. lems in a plug-and-play manner.
for optimal network performance. In ad- ISA-100.11a provides reliability, scal-
dition to sharing a single network, ISA- ability, high performance, and the ability ABOUT THE AUTHOR
100.11a also allows networks with differ- to simultaneously support numerous de- Amit Ajmeri (amit.ajmeri@us.yokogawa.
ent communication speeds to operate in vices and protocols. Several companies com) is a consultant for wireless and feld
the same physical space. For example, one are supporting the ISA-100.11a standard network technology at Yokogawa Corpo-
subnet can be comprised of low-speed sen- with feld instrumentation, automation ration of America. Ajmeri has been with
Yokogawa for more than ten years. He
ISA-100.11a wireless network architecture components currently represents Yokogawa on various
Role Role defnition and responsibilities committees for ISA, FDT Organization,
Input/output Sources or consumes data. Does not route. HART, and Fieldbus Foundation.

View the online version at www.isa.org/intech/20131204.

Router Routes messages for other devices operating in the
wireless subnet. RESOURCES
Analysis of Wireless Industrial
Backbone router Routes data via the backbone. Mitigates among devices operating
in the wireless subnet and devices operating on the backbone. Automation Standards: ISA-100.11a
and WirelessHART
System manager The brains of the network. Manages all network devices www.isa.org/link/analysisofwireless
through policy-controlled confgurations based on desired
performance parameters. A real mesh
www.isa.org/link/arealmesh
Security manager Enables, controls, and supervises the secure operation of all
devices present in the network.
Opportunities for smart wireless
Gateway Provides an application interface between the wireless network pH, conductivity measurements
and the plant network. www.isa.org/link/smartwireless

Provisioning Provisions devices with confgurations required for operation Wireless Networks for Industrial
within the network. Automation
System time source Responsible for maintaining the master time source of the network. www.isa.org/wirelessnetworks

INTECH NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 35

 OPC Foundation open standards
Automation and business interoperability improves effciency
By Thomas J. Burke
I
s the concept of open standards all myth and
magic? Is there a real business and techni-
cal value proposition for open standards like
OPC that justifes the end users demanding the
suppliers to deliver? How does OPC provide
timeless durability and deliver specifcations
and technology that the suppliers build into
their product portfolios? This article explores
the OPC vision, and the who, what, when,
where, and why of OPC interoperability in 2014.
OPC became the de facto standard for data
acquisition for discrete and process control
applications, and over time has evolved and
revolutionized industrial automation multi-
platform interoperability. The OPC Founda-
tion strategy is providing the infrastructure to
enable the community of suppliers, consortia,
and end users to collaborate to bring interoper-
able products to market. In addition, the OPC
Foundation had established a certifcation
program that validates the interoperability of
36 INTECH NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 WWW.ISA.ORG
products to meet and exceed the quality stan-
dards of the end user community.
What are the benefts?
Typically suppliers have always preferred the
brand-loyalty architecture; we want our end us-
ers to only use products from our company
and our preferred suppliers. The suppliers as-
sert and assume they know what their end users
want and need! Suppliers always tell the story
that standards are the least common denomi-
nator approach, and they can give users bet-
ter compatibility and performance along with
guaranteed interoperability with their propri-
etary architectures.
The world of consumer electronics and the
expectations set with out-of-the-box multiven-
dor plug-and-play interoperability is changing
the world. End users have high expectations
that technology innovations in consumer elec-
tronics must be propagated to industrial auto-

mation, and that tablets and smartphones must
be integrated with their industrial automation
devices and applications.
OPC Foundation
Has the OPC Foundation successfully delivered
the right technology and value proposition to
change the landscape of industrial automation
and related domains?
OPC was started in 1995 by a group of compa-
nies that had the vision for a simple interface that
allowed frst-tier visualization applications on
Microsoft platforms to read and write data from
process control and factory automation devices.
The value proposition at that time was simple;
vendors were looking to make their lives simpler
and more cost-effective. They did not want to be
burdened with continual development of com-
plex device-driver software to talk to the myriad
devices. Before OPC, companies had developed
their own proprietary open technology and dis-
tributed tool kits to multitudes of vendors to de-
velop software as an interface for their software
to discrete and process devices.
When OPC frst started, it was all about a
small set of vendors. It was a community think-
ing and collaborating to solve a critical problem
of moving data from the factory and process
control devices to the frst-tier visualization ap-
plications. The key concept here is a community
collaborating together.
OPC continued to develop new standards be-
yond the frst data-access specifcation that was
developed in the mid-1990s. OPC solves problems
beyond data access, including specifcations for
alarming and historical data access. The Micro-
soft platform-based specifcations of data access,
alarms of events, and historical data access are
now labeled the classic OPC specifcations.
OPC Unifed Architecture
Requirements and technology continued to ad-
vance, which established the need for a new ar-
chitecture that addressed a far broader scope of
interoperability problems.
In 2004, the OPC Foundation took on the
task of developing this new architecture called
the OPC Unifed Architecture (OPC UA), which
provides a service-oriented architecture de-
signed to provide multivendor, multiplatform,
secure, and reliable interoperability. The OPC
Unifed Architecture unifes all the data and in-
formation models from the classic OPC speci-
fcations. It provides an extensible information
model that allows not only OPC classic data to
be modeled, but also allows other consortia
AUTOMATION IT
and vendors to ren-
FAST FORWARD
der their respective l Is there a true business and technical value
information mod- proposition for open standards like OPC?
els into an OPC UA l Multivendor interoperability at its fnest
name space. This leverages the capabilities of the information
unique information model and OPC UA.
model architecture l The business value proposition for OPC is
allows applications frictionless information integration and
to exchange data/ lower total cost of ownership.
information with ap-
plications and devices, without having advance
knowledge of the data structures.
The OPC Foundation membership is the
community that continues to collaborate to de-
velop the best specifcations, technologies, cer-
tifcations, and processes. Years ago, the focus
was exchanging data inside a corporate frewall.
No one really worried or thought too much
about security. No one thought about the vol-
umes of data and what to do with the volumes
of data. Yesterday and today, it is all about con-
verting terabytes of data into intelligent infor-
mation. After OPC released OPC Data Access,
the OPC Foundation continued to work with
the community of collaborating vendors to look
for other interoperable problems. Some of the
specifcations that resulted solve the problems
of alarming and historical data access.
Classic OPC is the base of the OPC Unifed
Architecture. OPC UA expands classic OPC from
the embedded world to the enterprise. It is all
about connectivity in and between industrial
automation and all the related domains.
OpenO&M
One of the frst OPC Foundation collaborations
was OpenO&M (operations and maintenance),
which was a partnership between organizations
including MIMOSA, ISA95, OAGIS, and OPC. It
was based on the initial work between OPC and
MIMOSA, focusing on asset management and
the idea of preventative maintenance and reli-
ability applications. MIMOSA really provided
the deep repository of information, and OPC
became the mechanism for transporting the in-
formation between various applications.
Broadening scope
In the past two years, the focus has been elevat-
ing the collaboration with other consortia and
capitalizing on the information modeling con-
cepts inside of the OPC unifed architecture.
The focus of the collaborations has spanned
oil and gas, building automation, smart energy,
and machine-to-machine connectivity. Some of
the specifc consortia that the OPC Foundation
INTECH NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 37
AUTOMATION IT
is collaborating with include MDIS,
DSATS, MTConnect, PLCOpen, BAC-
Net interest group Europe, Energistics
SLC, ISA95, and ODVA/Sercos.
So how does this collaboration ar-
chitecture work? First, OPC has what is
known as the information model archi-
tecture. The OPC classic specifcations,
including data access, alarms and con-
ditions, and historical data access, are
modeled as information inside the OPC
name space. OPC UA took the classic
OPC specifcations and separated out
the services from the information. This
enabled us to identify the key services of
reading, writing, browsing, subscription,
and security and to keep them generic
from the information that they operate
on. We are also able to provide complete
structures of information behind the
data, which can be thought of as the data
and then the metadata behind the data.
OPC provided its own information
model for its various classic OPC speci-
fcations. Then the OPC Foundation
looked at the opportunity to model in-
formation from other vendors and other
consortias information in a generic way.
The best way to explain the infor-
mation model is to show a picture and
show the separation between the OPC
UAbased services and the OPC infor-
mation model and the specifcations of
the information model from other col-
laborative organizations.
Collaborations
In the oil and gas community, OPC
is engaged in a collaboration called
MDIS, which stands for master con-
trol system (MCS) distributed control
system (DCS) interface standardiza-
tion (IS). All the major oil companies
(the operators), all the major DCS ven-
dors, and all the subsea vendors col-
laborated to standardize the objects for
automation from the subsea world to
the DCS. They wanted to standardize
on their communication protocol and
information model, with the benefts
being reduction in cost and simplifying
engineering. The key features that they
will use from OPC UA are subscrip-
tion, security, robust medication, and
redundancybut most importantly
leveraging the information-modeling
38 INTECH NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 WWW.ISA.ORG
capabilities, including all of the sub-
typing of information. The architecture
possibilities include connectivity to
the subsea vendor hardware through
a subsea gateway that is topside to the
MCS and ultimately to the DCS hu-
man-machine interface (HMI) system.
Standardizing information will allow all
the equipment to operate seamlessly
and talk the same semantics and syn-
tax. Multivendor interoperability at its
fnest leverages the capabilities of the
information model and OPC UA. And
an OPC UA companion specifcation
is being developed that will describe
all the objects inside the system and all
the information necessary to provide
the infrastructure for interoperability
and compliance.
In other areas of oil and gas this is
known as drilling system automation
(DSA-TS). This is all about looking at
the surface equipment of a drilling
rig. How do you model all the objects
and integrate information between
The companies that work together will ultimately reap the
benefts of OPC UA.
multiple vendor systems? This is col-
laboration between all the operators,
the drilling contractors, the equipment
suppliers, and the service companies
that essentially are cooperative adver-
saries interested in information mod-
eling and interoperability. The compa-
nies that work together will ultimately
reap the benefts of OPC UA. There will
be commercial off-the-shelf products
that will easily support the complex
information models, providing high
degrees of maintainability in a secure
fashion. One of the key standards is
known as the well (oil and gas well) in-
formation transfer standard, which will
be in the OPC UA information model
and is used throughout the drilling in-
dustry.
Finally, in the oil and gas world is the
Standard Leadership Council. The OPC
Foundation is proud to be engaged in
this important initiative where all the
upstream oil and gas consortia are co-
operating. One of the specifc initia-
tives coming from this particular effort
is the integration between OPC and
Energistics. We are putting together
a working group that will develop an
OPC UA companion specifcation for
PRODML.
Outside of oil and gas we have been
working with the building automa-
tion community. Specifcally, the OPC
Foundation is engaged with the BAC-
net interest group Europe, which is
promoting BACnet in the European
markets. BACnet is a data communica-
tion protocol for building automation
under the auspices of the American
Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and
Air-Conditioning Engineers. It is con-
sidered the global standard for com-
munication in building automation
systems. In the fall of 2012, the OPC
Foundation and the BACnet interest
group formed a working group with
the main task of creating an informa-
tion-mapping model for OPC UA and
BACnet. Excellent work is being ac-
complished where we are taking data
from building automation inclusive of
energy-metering data, real-time oper-
ating information, and maintenance
information to simplify the integration
with enterprise systems, including ac-
counting, operational surveillance,
and extensive energy-monitoring ap-
plications. In addition, we are able to
take data from automation systems in-
clusive of the production information
programmable logic controller (PLC)
and DCS used in building automa-
tion and other energy supply systems
and integrate them with historical data
storage and scheduling applications.
Embedded
OPC UA was initially focused on
providing the infrastructure neces-
sary for data and information inte-
gration between the control systems
in the information technology world.
As OPC began to provide the neces-
sary services with respect to security
and the corresponding scaling of ser-
vices for platform independence, we

recognize a unique opportunity for
OPC UA to actually be scaled down
into the embedded world. OPC UA has
now been ported and made available
on the smallest level chips, and at the
same time OPC UA is now available in
a variety of PLC and DCS systems, and
numerous vendors are building OPC
UA into embedded HMI devices. More
importantly people are starting to look
at OPC UA as a mechanism for data
integration down into the instrument
level. OPC UA can exist anywhere. This
existence anywhere will allow the inte-
gration between industrial automation
and multiple related domains.
With respect to the embedded world
and collaboration, we have an excellent
collaboration between OPC and PLCO-
pen. In 2009, the initial plan was put to-
gether to map data structures inside of
IEC 61131 into an OPC UA name space,
and the initial goal was completed by
March 2010. In 2000, we began the de-
velopment of PLCOpen OPC UA func-
tion blocks and services. The OPC cli-
ent now resides inside of the PLC and is
able to interact through programmatic
method calls into the manufacturing
execution system world, which be-
haves as an OPC UA server running in
the cloud. The applications of this are
very interesting, and we now have the
ability to make transactional calls from
a PLC leveraging the collaboration
between OPC and PLCOpen.
Collaboration journey
The collaboration examples between
the OPC Foundation and other orga-
nizations are just the beginning in the
journey to standardize information in-
tegration.
The value proposition of open stan-
dards recognized in the world of consum-
er electronics is gaining momentum in
industrial automation. Expectations are
clear from the engineers of tomorrow
they rely on multivendor plug-and-play
interoperability in consumer electronics
and expect multivendor plug-and-play
interoperability from industrial automa-
tion. More importantly, the ability for all
the standards organizations to work to-
gether in a harmonization of those infor-
mation model standards is being realized
AUTOMATION IT
through the organizational collaboration have frictionless information integra-
taking place across our industry. tion out of the box with plug-and-play
The multitude of members inside the interoperability. Consumer electronics
OPC community are bringing forward are driving expectations for industrial
products and services that take advan- automation end users and engineers of
tage of the multiplatform architecture tomorrow. Frictionless interoperability
from the world of consumer electronics can now be realized by all our suppliers
and entertainment. The smartphone developing best-of-breed products that
has become a way of life. People use leverage open standards inclusive of the
their smartphones as a replacement OPC technology portfolio.
for global positioning systems. People
use their smartphones for bidirectional ABOUT THE AUTHOR
information exchange. Smartphones
Thomas J. Burke (thomas.burke@opc-
have become many peoples comput-
foundation.org) is the OPC Foundation
ers. The proliferation of applications
president and executive director. He was
and the importance of applications be-
one of the original architects of OPC, and
ing developed that tie into the world of
his vision of interoperability is to develop
industrial automation can now be real-
and maintain the best technology, speci-
ized in a standard way by leveraging the
fcations, certifcation, and process to en-
OPC UA technology.
able multivendor, multiplatform, secure,
In summary, the business value prop-
and reliable interoperability for and be-
osition for open standards and specif-
tween industrial automation and related
cally OPC is really all about looking at
domains (www.OPCFoundation.org).
the total cost of ownership, and how
products from multiple vendors can View the online version at www.isa.org/intech/20131205.
Reference Recorder
Accurate
&Portable
RUGGED
Accuracy up to 0.025%.
Collects and stores up to
1 million data points.
Replaces a deadweight tester
and chart recorder.
Temperature, current, voltage,
and switch.
Also available in a Lab Reference
configuration.
crystal@ametek.com See our article Reference Recorders Shake Up Old Standards on page 40.
INTECH NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 39
Reference
recorders
shake up W
ithin the pressure measurement
industry, relentless innovation has
become the norm. New technology
continually supplants the old. In other tech-

old standards nology spheres, PCs pushed aside typewrit-

ers. Cell phones drove out telephones. And
today, reference recorders are shaking up
old standards in the oil and gas industry.
A reference recorder is a new class of instru-
ment that is gaining ground over other com-
mon pressure instruments. Chart recorders,
deadweight testers, and analog pressure gauges
all brought several advantages in their time. In-
creasingly, reference recorders replace all three
with a single instrument.

What is a reference recorder?

Reference recorders unify the recording capa-
bility of a chart recorder, the high accuracy of
a deadweight tester, and the continuous mea-
surements of a pressure gauge into one tool
that is easier to use and less expensive.
On their own, none of these features are
unique, but when you put them all in the same
device that reduces cost, it is something re-
ally useful. These reference recorders are effec-
tive for both laboratory and feld applications.
While data logging devices are nothing new,
improved microprocessors allow todays refer-
ence recorders to read and record faster and
more accurately than ever.
Reference recorders detect readings from
modules, which may read pressure, tempera-
Reference recorders offer a reliable improvement over the decades-old ture, current, or voltage, and store the data in
technology commonly used. their digital memory. These modules are usu-
ally interchangeable, and recorders generally
accept two inputs at a time. In addition to their
Reference recorders are a new compact size, reference recorders offer several
improvements to bulky chart recorders.
class of instrument, displacing Improving on a chart recorder
common pressure instruments Chart recorders, originally patented in 1915,
produce a graph on a moving paper chart. They
rely on ink pens mounted on mechanical arms,
By David K. Porter, P.E. which pivot in response to pressure. Their pri-
mary advantage is their ability to record for

40 INTECH NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 WWW.ISA.ORG


extended periods in remote locations. Chart re-
corders may be battery powered or entirely me-
chanical (requiring no external power), allowing
them to operate in hazardous locations.
An experienced user may provide preliminary
analysis of the output from a chart recorder in
the feld. However, communicating or storing this
data electronically becomes possible only after a
technician enters or scans the chart into a com-
puter. This process typically takes several days.
Chart recorders usually claim an accuracy ranging
from 0.25 percent to 1 percent of span, but that
fgure depends on changes in ambient tempera-
ture and on the thickness of its penswhich can
cause an additional error up to 1 percent of the
recorded reading. Chart recorders are also suscep-
tible to additional errors caused by overpressure
and can easily be damaged if dropped.
By contrast, a reference recorder exports
digital data in a familiar spreadsheet that can
be easily shared and understood by multiple
users. Accuracy remains consistent with tem-
perature changes, is protected from high over-
pressure events, and is not affected if the gauge
is dropped. Despite being battery powered, ref-
erence recorders are also rated intrinsically safe
for use in hazardous locations.
New regulations in many industries require
that safety tests be documented in an electron-
ic format. Some even require that the fles pro-
duced are in a tamperproof, secure fle format.
Reference recorders can save the digital data
in a signed pdf fle, which produces read-only
fles that cannot be manipulated.
Using deadweight testers in the feld
Deadweight testers are used primarily in a lab-
oratory setting. They produce a repeatable ref-
erence pressure by balancing calibrated mass-
es on a piston of known area. Operators must
use a different set of masses for each engineer-
ing unit (i.e., one set of weights for pounds per
square inch [psi], another for kilopascal [kPa]).
In an indoor, temperature-regulated environ-
ment, deadweight testers can be very accu-
rateserving as a primary standard for the
SPECIAL SECTION: PRESSURE MEASUREMENT
FAST FORWARD
l Reference recorders improve on decades-
old technology used in chart recorders.
l Reference recorders offer deadweight
tester accuracy in a small feld-designed
instrument.
l Reference recorders remove the need to
carry multiple gauges by replacing them
all with one tool.
calibration of other pressure measurement de-
vices. Field versions also exist but, outside the
lab, their accuracy depends on a host of factors.
To deliver an accurate reading, a feld dead-
weight tester must be perfectly level. Addition-
ally, ambient temperature, humidity, wind, and
local gravity will all affect the reading. Without
adjusting for these, a feld deadweight testers
accuracy may be no better than a common pres-
sure gauge. Even with these compensations, a
feld deadweight tester cannot actively detect or
record changes in pressure; it only offers an ac-
curate reference pressure for comparison.
A reference recorder serves two purposes.
First, it stores readings continually, with update
rates up to 10 readings per second, and allows
the operator to record an entire test from start to
fnish; second, it provides a consistent, accurate
reference for feld calibrations. Measurements
from modern reference recorders are indepen-
dent of local gravity or humidity and produce
their accuracy via a proprietary mathematical
algorithm that corrects for ambient tempera-
ture. Achievable accuracies range from 0.025
percent of the indicated reading at lower pres-
sures, to 0.1 percent of reading up to 15,000 psi.
A good reference recorders accuracy should
Any PC can download the digital data from a reference recorder.
INTECH NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 41
SPECIAL SECTION: PRESSURE MEASUREMENT

Reference recorders not change with temperature across Replacing multiple pressure ranges
unify the recording its operating range. This is where re- Pressure and temperature gauges
capability of a chart corders vary widely. The best manu- are widespread and varied in form.
recorder, the high
accuracy of a dead-
facturers will provide proof of their Gauges will continue being useful
weight tester, and accuracy claims, with a calibration for years, because of their portability,
the continuous certificate from an accredited lab, customizability, and affordability. In
measurements of showing test data at different tem- contrast, their drawbacks stem from
a pressure gauge peratures. their inherent fragility and the neces-
into one tool.
sity to carry multiple gauges to cover
a given pressure range.
Linearity and ruggedness are the two most Linearity and ruggedness are the
important features of any pressure gauge. two most important features of any
pressure gauge. Many pressure gauges
would be useful across a much larger
pressure range if their sensors were
more linear and predictable. Also,
many gauges continue to display read-

its guaranteed to ings that appear accurate, even after

their sensors sustained damage.

turn your pc to dust. To overcome these challenges, ref-

erence recorders extend their usabil-
ity by accepting different modules,
each of which covers a wide pressure
range. Within each module range, a
reference recorder will have superior
accuracy and linearity, compared to
most pressure gauges. The advanced
self-diagnostics in a reference re-
corder prevents the device from dis-
playing an invalid reading if it sus-
tains damage.
Reference recorders offer a reli-
able improvement over the decades-
old technology commonly seen in
the oil and gas industry. Replacing
chart recorders, deadweight testers,

we guarantee it wont. and older pressure gauges with ref-

erence recorders helps companies
reduce their equipment costs, train-
In manufacturing time is money. The smallest dust or debris can cause big
problems for your electronics on the manufacturing floor. We guarantee
ing time, and operator error.
IceStation TITAN will keep your computer systems up and running no matter
what danger presents itself. Built to meet NEMA 12 standards, IceStation
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
TITAN protects computer systems from harmful dust, grease, sparks, and
splashing fluids. With a large viewing window designed David K. Porter, P.E., is the division vice
to accommodate up to 24'' wide screen monitors, president, Crystal business manager at
a retractable keyboard drawer, oversized work surface,
AMETEK. He has more than 25 years of
and a track record of 27 years experience protecting
electronics, ITSENCLOSURES is the one name you can experience; the last 13 years were spent
trust. To learn more about IceStation TITAN, call in the test and measurement feld de-
1.800.423.9911 or visit ITSENCLOSURES.com. veloping rugged, highly accurate, and
easy-to-use instruments. He has a degree
in mechanical engineering from Califor-
nia Polytechnic State University, San Luis
25 Obispo, where he is still active on the
Industry Advisory Board. For questions,
email sales@crystalengineering.net.

View the online version at www.isa.org/intech/20131206.

42 INTECH NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 WWW.ISA.ORG

 Performs Well
Under Pressure.

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2012 Honeywell International, Inc. All right reserved.
executive corner | Tips and Strategies for Managers
Remember the customer
By Jon Olson
How many times have you decided to stop work-
ing with a company because you thought it was
not listening to you? Perhaps you have switched
your bank, Internet service, or cell phone pro-
vider, because you found it impossible to reach
someone who seemed even slightly interested in
solving your problem.
You are not alone. Research shows that 68 per-
cent of customers stop working with a company due
to treatment they received or perceived indifference.
Only 9 percent leave due to competitive reasons.
Today we have great communications and col-
laboration tools that enable us to make a technical
connection almost immediately; we can commu-
nicate more quickly across greater distances than
at any other point in human history. However, we
need to remember that all manufacturing, and oth-
er types of business, are primarily driven by people
and relationships. Maintaining a personal touch
with our customers is what really matters.
Our number one mission must be to help our
customers accomplish what they have hired us to
domake their jobs easier and their operations
more effcient. Period. Those who ignore this do so
at the risk of losing business.
When was the last time you had a meaningful,
productive discussion with one of your customers?
One that resulted in a real path forward to solve
a problem, or better yet, looked ahead to the cus-
tomers short- and long-term goals? One that dis-
cussed different options to reach theseand the
expectations you both have from your working rela-
tionship? All too often, conversations with our cus-
tomers are initiated as a reaction to an immediate
problem or issue, rather than as a collaborative step
forward. It is too easy to hide behind the ability to
communicate quickly. Just because you can reach
your customer immediately using todays technol-
ogy, does not mean that you have really connected.
What can we do to improve how we work to-
gether and what we deliver, ensuring we develop the
products and services that will help our customers use
the latest technologies to make their processes more
effcient, and their companies more competitive?
It takes a commitment to focus on the people
behind the business relationshipand to learn
what they need to be successful in their jobs and
in the marketplace. It involves taking the time to
know the individuals whom you are working with
and understand their day-to-day challenges. What
44 INTECH NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 WWW.ISA.ORG
is keeping them up at night, and why? What is
their wish list of solutions that would make their
jobs easier? How can you help?
When you actively engage your customers and
learn about their challenges, you can anticipate what
they will need. This is achieved by building a relation-
ship with your customers, investing time in a two-
way dialogue, and really listening to what they say.
A lot of this seems to be common sense, but as
we hurry to meet our deadlines, and just quickly
touch base with our smart phones or tablets to
close the loop, how many times do we pause
and really hear what our customers are telling us?
Electronic message exchanges are fne for a quick
status update or question, but it is diffcult to get
to the heart of any problem with electronic com-
munication alone. You can accomplish far more
over a cup of coffee, lunch, or even a phone con-
versation than you can with countless emails or
text messages, many of which may not be read.
That is because people are what drive business,
and the communication methods are only an effec-
tive enabler if you have established a sound relation-
ship frst. We need to remember that decisions to
proceed with a project, implement a new technology,
expand a business, or stay with or switch vendors, are
all made by people, and not faceless entities.
As we all rush forward to develop and fnd new
ways to leverage the best new technologies and
solutions, we need to keep our focus on the peo-
ple whom we are creating these for. What tools do
they need, and what support do they need from
us? How can we deliver these more effectively?
How can we make their work environment more
effcient, safe, and productive, and their jobs more
rewarding? Are we listening to their input and
looking ahead to what they will need next?
The time spent to listen and learn about your
customers daily challenges, short- and long-term
goals, and priorities will be one of the best invest-
ments you can ever make for your business.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jon Olson is North America region division manager,
process automation, for ABB Inc. The division devel-
ops, produces, sells, delivers, and services products
and solutions to enable industrial and energy cus-
tomers to operate more effciently and proftably.
Before his current role, he served as the division
manager, process automation, for ABB in Australia.

Four key benefts of integrated safety control networks
By Jay Cross, CAP
T
here has always been some form
of safety systems implemented in
industrial manufacturing automa-
tion. However, the manually driven, hard-
wired safety systems of the past are los-
ing their place in the modernized plant to
networked safety systems. This is a new
approach; in the past fve to six years you
would not have seen these integrated
systems in applications.
Today, the trend is to make safety
more methodical and more integrated
into the core of the control systems
not just added as an afterthought. In-
tegrating safety systems into the line
control systems at the plant foor is now
a part of the safety system design and
a requirement in the electrical specifca-
tions of most of our clients. We certainly
encourage all customers to follow this
methodology.
In the old-style architecture, there
were hardwired safety systems that were
functional, but they lacked key features
and functions to protect against possible
failure, creating an unsafe situation. For
example, there is now redundancy in the
devices, the mechanics, the electronics,
and the software and hardware. Now,
we can centrally manage all the safety
devices, such as push-button E-stops,
pull cords, and light curtains. They are
integrated directly into the line control
system and programmed for fexibility to
easily control these devices in zones while
maintaining safety ratings.
The safety system converges with the
line control systems and is held sepa-
rately and managed based on safety-
level requirements. This allows the safety
system to be validated separately and to
provide plantwide consistency. Key ben-
efts of an integrated system include the
following:
Tamperproof
Some operators tend to use the E-stop
as a convenient method to stop the ma-
chine. E-stops are designed for emergen-
cies, but are used in nonemergency sce-
Tips and Strategies for Systems Integrators | channel chat
narios all too often to stop the line. This
generally causes longer downtime and
affects production related to restarting
the machines.
An integrated safety system allows
plants to create safety zones to control
how the line is stopped or the areas of
machines that are safe to access to clear
In general, the Occupation
Safety and Health Adminis-
tration (OSHA) requires the
employer to provide a safe
work environment and to use
a proven method to assure
that one exists.
jams without stopping the machines or
the entire line. Now criteria can be de-
veloped and programmed into the in-
tegrated safety software for safe access
and to maintain productivity on the line.
Before, those changes had to be made
with hardwiring and machine changes.
Control
Disparate controls and data slow down
operations. By integrating all of the
safety controls, plant managers and op-
erators can easily view the data, identify
the problems, and decide the best course
of action. Diagnostics and alarms can be
designed from collected safety informa-
tion. The customers determine how they
want to monitor the system and what
data they want to see, such as downtime
monitoring.
Before, it was nice to have data; now it
is required to have data. Supervisory soft-
ware can drill down to interrogate each
device. This gives the engineering staff
the data to access the device and monitor
the equipment for failures and frequent
incidents. They can make adjustments to
improve overall equipment effectiveness.
The fault codes provided tell engineering
exactly what happened. Our objective is
to provide a data-rich environment.
Flexibility
Flexibility on a line has become increas-
ingly important for manufacturers to
meet changing customer demands.
Whereas hardwired safety systems were
analogous to casting concrete or carving
stone, digitally integrated safety systems
are designed to be nimble. Standardized
design allows for changes on the line
and expansion effciencies. The instal-
lations typically only require a couple
wires, and new parts and old parts can
be swapped out in minutes.
OSHA/ISO-13849-1
In general, the Occupation Safety and
Health Administration (OSHA) requires
the employer to provide a safe work en-
vironment and to use a proven method to
assure that one exists. Therefore OSHA re-
lies on ISO-13489-1 to defne what makes
an integrated safety system safe.
The ISO-13849-1 standards help defne
the safety (performance) level, the safe-
ty functions required, the safety con-
trol system to be used, and the safety
devices to be used. This is all done by
identifying the hazards defned in a risk
assessment.
By understanding these requirements,
designing and integrating the system to
these standards, and properly document-
ing the safety system, customers can be
assured that OSHA requirements are met
and that a safe system has been integrated.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jay Cross, CAP, is project lead at Polytron
Inc., a certifed member of the Control
System Integrators Association (CSIA)
with headquarters in Duluth, Ga. Contact
info@polytron.com or visit the website at
www.polytron.com. For more information
about CSIA and CSIA certifcation, visit
www.controlsys.org.
INTECH NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 45
association news | Certifcation Review

ISA Certifed Automation Professional

(CAP) program

C
ertifed Automation Professionals (CAPs) are responsible sent. If a hacker is successful in changing set point data as that
for the direction, design, and deployment of systems data travels over the network, the hacker has compromised in-
and equipment for manufacturing and control systems. tegrity of the data, since it is no longer the same when received
as when sent.
CAP question Answer B is incorrect, because functionality is not a basic
If a hacker intercepts and changes set point data traveling over security property.
an industrial network, which basic security property is affected? Answer C is incorrect, because the problem statement did not
A. integrity address the availability of data. It appears that only the value of
B. functionality the set point (data integrity) was affected.
C. availability Answer D is incorrect, because defensibility is not a basic se-
D. defensibility curity property, but rather a measure of the vulnerability of a
system.
CAP answer
The correct answer is A, integrity. Data integrity implies that the Reference: Trevathan, Vernon L., A Guide to the Automation Body
data received is the same (value, format, quality) as the data of Knowledge, Second Edition, ISA, 2006.

ISA Certifed Control Systems Technician

(CCST) program

C
ertifed Control System Technicians (CCSTs) calibrate,
document, troubleshoot, and repair/replace instrumenta-
tion for systems that measure and control level, tempera-
ture, pressure, fow, and other process variables.
CCST question
Which of the following fow measurement devices does not re-
quire square root extraction?
A. magnetic fowmeter
B. venturi fowmeter
C. orifce plate
D. pitot tube
CCST answer
The correct answer is A, magnetic fowmeter. Square root ex-
traction is a mathematical method that is required for fowme-
ter readings where a measured differential pressure, or pressure
drop, is used to infer the fow rate. From the choices in the
problem statement, the magnetic fowmeter is the only sensor
on the list that does not depend upon a differential pressure
to be developed to quantify fow rate, and therefore, does not
require square root extraction.
Answer B, venturi fowmeter, infers fow rate by measurement
of the differential pressure across a tapered tube.
Answer C, orifce plate, infers fow rate by measurement of
the differential pressure across a thin plate with an orifce bored
through it.
Answer D, pitot tube, infers fow rate by measurement of
the differential pressure between a reference pressure (static
pressure of the fowing fuid) and the pressure measured at the
impact tube.
Reference: Goettsche, L. D. (Editor), Maintenance of Instruments
and Systems, Second Edition, ISA, 2005.

46 INTECH NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 WWW.ISA.ORG

ISA salutes
our partners.
Through the ISA Corporate Partnerships Program,
leading companies have joined together to invest
in the future and work together to solve the
problems our industries face. Automation
professionals around the world will benefit
from their support of ISA, and were
proud to recognize their contributions.

We accomplish more together than we

ever could alone. So, on behalf of ISA
members, leaders, and customers
everywhere, let us humbly say...
Thank you.

Learn more about our partners at

www.isa.org/partners
Learn more about becoming a partner at:
www.isa.org/
partnershipsoverview

Thermocouples
versus RTDs
Choosing the right temperature sensor requires
evaluation of the environment, temperature range,
accuracy, and speed of response
T
By Ehren Kiker hermocouples (TCs) and resistance tem-
perature detectors (RTDs) are the most
widely used temperature sensors in au-
tomation and process control. They are found
embedded in motors, valves, turbines, bear-
ings, and a host of other devices. Most smart
instruments such as fowmeters, pressure
transmitters, and level transmitters also have
an embedded temperature sensorused to
correct the primary measured variable or for
process control.
When used alone, temperature sensors are
often installed in thermowells, which are insert-
ed into tanks, vessels, and pipes. A thermowell
protects the sensor from the environment, but
it slows the response time and degrades the ac-
curacy. Installing sensors in a thermowell is a
different subject, and will not be covered here.
Instead, this article discusses direct immersion
sensors; i.e., TCs and RTDs that are directly in-
serted and exposed to the process without the
protection of a thermowell.
Theories of operation
A thermocouple consists of two wires of dissimi-
lar metals, joined at both endsat the reference
point outside the process (cold junction) and at a
junction at the point of measurement (hot junc-
tion). The metals react differently to temperature
changes and generate an electromotive force
(EMF) voltage based on the temperature differ-
ential between the junctions (the Seebeck effect).
A resistance temperature detector is based on the
principle that electrical resistance in a wire in-
creases with temperature.
In both cases, the sensor is wired to a transducer
or signal conditioner that has been calibrated to
accept the input voltage or resistance, calculate
the correct temperature, and output it as a 420
mA, mV, or digital signal to an automation system.
48 INTECH NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 WWW.ISA.ORG
The above is pretty basic, taught in every In-
strumentation 101 class. But it poses the frst
question to consider when choosing a sensor:
How do you wire the sensor to the transducer,
signal conditioner, or automation system? Such
devices and systems, being electronic in nature,
need to be mounted in a reasonably safe loca-
tion, away from high temperatures.
TCs must be wired with thermocouple exten-
sion wire, which is the same as the wire used
in the TC. For example, a Type K TC uses a wire
of nickel-chromium connected at the sensing
junction to a wire of nickel-alumel. Extension
wire must be the same composition, that is,
one nickel-chromium and one nickel-alumel
wire. In general, longer runs of extension wire
are discouraged, as the wires act as an antenna,
making the measurement more susceptible to
electromagnetic and radio frequency interfer-
ence. Cost may also be an issue when dealing
with long extension wires, especially ones with
exotic materials (e.g., Type R TCs). In certain
cases, a compensation cable made up of a less
expensive material with similar EMF properties
to the TC can be used.
RTDs, on the other hand, can be wired with
standard cable for much longer distances; how-
ever, they are typically limited by issues related
to self-heating errors. In both cases, the exten-
sion wiring must be shielded against electrical
noise in the plant. Note that TC extension wire is
more susceptible to noise than RTD cable.
Sensor construction
A wire-wound RTD consists of fne coiled wire
wrapped around a ceramic or glass element,
then placed in a sheathed probe for protection
(see fgure 1). Thin-flm RTDs have a platinum
coating over a ceramic substrate. Thin-flm
RTDs are not as susceptible to vibration as wire-
 AUTOMATION BASICS

wound RTDs but typically are more limited in RTD Pt 100 sensor elements
their applicable temperature range.
Wire-wound RTDs are typically made from
copper, nickel, or platinum alloys. Platinum is
the most popular, because it has better accu-
racy and works over a wider temperature range.
RTDs can be taped or cemented to a surface,
mounted in a probe, or embedded in a device
via threaded holes.
Thermocouples are not as fragile as RTDs,
and are typically protected by a metal covering
that can be bolted, welded, soldered, or glued to
a surface. In some cases, the temperature junc-
tion can be left exposed to the environment, al-
lowing for faster response times (see fgure 2).
Grounding can be an issue. A TC can build up
a static charge that affects its accuracy, so it may
Ceramic RTD Glass RTD Thin-flm RTD
need to be grounded. However, TCs can also wire wound wire wound
pick up circuit noise when grounded to an elec-
trical device or machine. Determining whether Figure 1. Wire-wound RTD sensing elements are fragile, so they are placed in
or not to ground a TC depends on specifcs of a protective sheath.
the particular application, such as the amount
of electrical noise present in the measurement
environment and the grounding circuit.

Nasty environments TC junction types

Temperature sensing is often done in unfriend-
ly environments, such as corrosive, oxidizing,
or reducing atmospheres, often accompanied by Ungrounded
severe vibration and electrical noise. When select- (insulated)
ing an RTD or TC, the environment must be taken
into account. If the process environment poses a
high degree of risk of sensor failure, a thermowell
made of a material that is suitable for the process
environment should be considered. Grounded
VibrationWire-wound RTDs are most suscep-
tible to vibration. Wire-wound RTDs can fail from
mechanical stress in high-vibration applications
and should not be used. Thin-flm RTDs have a
higher tolerance for vibration, but they are not as Exposed
good as TCs, which have the highest resistance to
vibration.
Electrical noiseAs noted above, the exten- Figure 2. Thermocouple sensors can be grounded or ungrounded,
sion wires for both RTDs and TCs are susceptible depending on the application.
to electrical noise. In high-noise environments,
extension wires should be sheathed, shielded,
grounded, and kept as short as possible. An RTD is
a better choice in high-noise environments. ing baths, highly pressurized systems, or similar
Harsh environmentsWhen dealing with a applications. RTD extension wires are available
harsh environment, check to see if the RTD or with polyvinyl chloride, PFA, or fberglass insula-
TC sensor manufacturer offers protection against tion for protection.
adverse conditions. Wire-wound RTDs in their TCs, especially those with metal cases, are much
protective casings are quite rugged and immune more rugged than RTDs and better able to deal
to most environmental problems. For additional with corrosive or oxidizing atmospheres. When ex-
protection, RTDs can be coated with perfuoroalk- posed TC junctions are used, special care must be
oxy (PFA) polytetrafuoroethylene for use in plat- taken in harsh environments.

INTECH NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 49

AUTOMATION BASICS

TCs are classifed by type, i.e., Types

E, J, K, N, T, S, R, and B. Each type is RTD TC comparison
suitable for a specifc temperature RTD TC
range from 201C to 1700C, and the
Measuring range <600C <600C
construction of each makes it suitable
for use in various environments: Response time Fast Very fast
Dimension >0.5 mm <0.5 mm
l Type E: suitable for vacuum, inert,
Vibration Good Very good
mildly oxidizing, or reducing atmo-
spheres Self-heating Little None
l Type J: may be used, exposed or un- Long-term stability Very good Good
exposed, where there is a defciency Accuracy Very good Good
of free oxygen
Connection cables Connection cables Thermocable
l Type K: typically requires metal or
ceramic protection Power supply Required Not required
l Type N: resists oxidation where
Figure 3. Comparison of thermocouples and RTDs
sulfur is present
l Type T: can be used in either oxidiz-
ing or reducing atmospheres Other considerations ments from an RTD at temperatures
l Types S, R, B: should always be Figure 3 shows the major consider- above 400C. TCs can measure up to
protected with a ceramic tube, a sec- ations involved in selecting a TC or RTD. 1700C. The generally accepted rule
ondary tube of porcelain, and a sili- Measuring range: RTDs can measure is: for temperatures below 850C, use
con carbide or metal outer tube as temperatures up to 1000C, but it can an RTD for accuracy; for temperatures
conditions require be diffcult to get accurate measure- above 850C, use a TC. Industrial mea-

Give a gift that How ISA Helps Your Business

helps a career
membership in ISA! A. Branding
Opportunities
Birthdays, holidays, starting college . . .
what great occasions to give a gift B. Product
that has a lasting impact. Show Showcase
someone how much you re- C. Completed
spect and value his or her Listing
career aspirations, with a
gift of membership in ISA.

To enroll someone, call

+1 (919) 549-8411 or visit:
www.isa.org/giveISA2013 ISADirectoryofAutomation.org

50 INTECH NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 WWW.ISA.ORG


surements typically are 200C to 400C,
so an RTD may be the best choice in
that range.
Response time: While both sensors re-
spond quickly to temperature changes,
TCs are faster. In certain cases, however,
manufacturing processes allow for pro-
duction of thin-flm RTDs with greatly
improved response times.
Dimensions: Both sensors are fairly
small, at about 0.5 mm diameter. If
space is an issue for mounting a sen-
sor, check with the supplier for size and
mounting options.
Vibration: In general, TCs are less
susceptible to vibration than RTDs.
However, in certain manufacturing pro-
cesses thin-flm RTDs can be produced
that are capable of much greater vibra-
tion resistance than standard RTDs.
Self-heating: An RTD is made of very
fne wires or very fne coatings, and re-
quires a voltage from a power supply
TCs do not require power. Although
the power required is only 1 mA to 10
mA, it can cause the platinum element
in the RTD to heat up, thus affecting
accuracy of the measurement. If long
extension wires are used, more power
may be needed to overcome resistance
in the wires, thus increasing the self-
heating problem.
Stability: The long-term stability of
an RTD is very good, meaning that its
readings will be repeatable and stable
for a long time. TCs, on the other hand,
tend to drift. The EMF produced by a
TC can change over time because of
oxidation, corrosion, and other chang-
es in the metallurgical properties of
the sensing elements. TC drift is irre-
versible, and some provision is needed
to detect it, such as software or testing
for loop resistance.
Accuracy: As a general rule, RTDs are
more accurate than TCs. RTDs can pro-
duce accuracy of 0.1C, while TCs are
typically accurate to only 1C.
AUTOMATION BASICS
Although not a technical issue, TCs
are considerably less expensive than
RTDs due primarily to lower produc-
tion costs. Depending on the number
of sensors needed for a particular ap-
plication, this could be a major factor.
Careful selection of the right temper-
ature sensing technology is essential to
ensure the best performance, reliabil-
ity, and cost effectiveness. Suppliers
that sell both TCs and RTDs are often
good sources of information when de-
ciding which type of sensor to use, as is
previous experience with different sen-
sor types in various applications.
To learn more about practical ther-
mocouple thermometry, check out
www.isa.org/thermometry.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ehren Kiker (ehren.kiker@us.endress.com)
is a product manager with Endress+Hauser
with more than 15 years of experience in
process control instrumentation.
INTECH NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 51
workforce development | Professional Growth
Technology convergence presents evolving workforce
development challenges in combating cyberthreats
By Jay Warmke
E
very institution, from the federal gov-
ernment to the corner convenience
store, struggles with the ongoing is-
sue of workforce developmentand now
also with the issue of cybersecurity.
There is the initial struggle to recruit a
person who has the interpersonal skills
and attitude to succeed, and the knowl-
edge to contribute to the collective effort
on day one. And in evolving and technical
industries, there is the ongoing task of re-
training technicians in emerging technol-
ogies, developing job skills from this new
knowledge, adapting and applying these
skills in the real world, and then evaluat-
ing the individual to see if that employee
really has absorbed the information now
necessary to perform the job.
The challenges of workforce develop-
ment can clearly be seen in the recent
initiative by the National Institute of Stan-
dards and Technology (NIST), a part of
the U.S. Department of Commerce, as it
struggles to address the concerns raised
by the growing threat of cyberattacks on
our nations critical infrastructure.
Out of these concerns has emerged the
National Initiative for Cybersecurity Edu-
cation (NICE) Framework, a nationally co-
ordinated effort focused on cybersecurity
awareness, education, training, and pro-
fessional development. Within the NICE
Framework, the effort seeks not only to
defne terms, create job descriptions, and
divide security tasks into specialty areas
but it also seeks to come to grips with the
areas of education necessary to make the
nations infrastructure more secure.
After those felds of expertise are iden-
tifed (which is no easy task), how do you
go about verifying that an individual is
indeed qualifed in that specialty? This
is where training and third-party certif-
cation programs become paramount in
preparing a workforce that can identify
and alleviate these threats. As part of its
process, the NICE initiative is identifying
existing certifcation programs that are
applicable and helpful in dealing with
52 INTECH NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 WWW.ISA.ORG
and preventing cyberthreats.
As one might assume, most of the
currently listed programs were initially
designed with network security in mind.
Programs such as:
n Global Information Assurance
Certifcation (GIAC) Information
Security Fundamentals
n CompTIA Security+
n ISCs Certifed Information Systems
Security Professional
n Certifed Hacking Forensic Investigator
But cybersecurity is not just for com-
puters anymore. The playing feld is
evolving . . . changing . . . converging.
The threats come from
new vulnerabilities
Increasingly, computer networks are mov-
ing to wireless platforms. Even our per-
sonal cars and public transit systems are
incorporating wireless data systems as
standard features. With these changes
come increased and evolving network
vulnerabilities. The world of computing is
moving into a landscape previously domi-
nated by those trained in radio frequency
(RF) applications.
And at the same time, over the past
10 to 15 years, mobile radio communi-
cations and cell and wired telecommuni-
cations systems have become more and
more Internet Protocol based in an effort
to enhance their effciency, adaptability,
and connectivity to existing data systems.
The industries are converging.
In the early days of fber-optic technol-
ogy, it was touted as the industrys an-
swer to network security. But in recent
years, it has been determined that, using
only commonly available tools and equip-
ment, fber-optic cables are as easy to tap
as copperand the security breach is al-
most undetectable. With millions of miles
of fber transmitting billions of mega-
bytes of data dailywho needs access to
the computer hardware?
And how vulnerable are frst respond-
ers, who have traditionally relied on RF
technologies, to cyberthreats? The list of
vulnerabilities and technologies affected
are seemingly endless.
New specializations
will be required
The Electronic Technician Association,
International (ETA) has developed more
than 80 certifcation programs focused
on skill sets as varied as:
n Certifed Network Computer Techni-
cian (CNCT)
n Certifed Network Systems Technician
(CNST)
n Computer Service Technician (CST)
n Wireless Network Technician (WNT)
n Wireless Communications (WCM)
n Communication Site Installer (R56)
n Mobile Communications & Electronics
Installer (MCEI)
n Fiber Optics Installer (FOI)
n Fiber Optics Technician-Outside Plant
(FOT-OSP)
n Radio Frequency Identifcation
Technical Specialist (RFID)
These programs are widely accepted
within their respective industries, and
undergo constant review and updates.
Many are currently incorporating cyber-
and network-security issues into their
programs.
Conversely, those interested in cyber-
security issues increasingly need a com-
prehensive knowledge of diverse tech-
nologiessimply to understand those
systems and the inherent vulnerabilities
they present.
For more information about the cer-
tifcation programs, publications, and
technical information available through
the ETA, International, visit its website at
www.eta-i.org.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jay Warmke is a writer, speaker, and teach-
er and was recently awarded ETAs 2013
Educator of the Year Award. Warmke also
serves on the board of the International
Certifcation Accreditation Council.

ISA-100 wireless standard receives resounding
approval in IEC technical voting
ISA
-100.11a-2011, Wireless
Systems for Industrial Au-
tomation: Process Control
and Related Applications, has received
approval from all 21 participating nation-
al committees to the International Elec-
trotechnical Commission (IEC) that voted
on the IEC version in a recently completed
committee draft for vote (CDV) stage.
The CDV stage is the fnal stage in the
IEC process in which technical comments
may be considered. The standard, expect-
ed to be issued in early 2014 for a fnal IEC
approval stage in which no technical com-
ments may be submitted, will carry the
designation IEC 62734 upon publication.
This follows previous approval of ISA-
100.11a as an ISA and American National
Standard. The latter confrmed that ISAs
open consensus standards development
procedures as accredited by the American
National Standards Institute (ANSI) were fol-
lowed properly in developing ISA-100.11a.
ANSI requires participation not only of sup-
pliers but of all key interest categories.
2013 ISA Standards & Practices Department awards winners
E
ach year, the ISA Standards & Prac-
tices Department recognizes signif-
cant contributions by standards com-
mittee members toward achieving major
milestoneswhich typically would result in
the publication of an ISA standard, recom-
mended practice, or technical report. Six
winners for 2013 were recently announced.
Hal Thomas of exida was recognized for
his leadership and technical expertise as
ISA84 Working Group 9 chairman in the
development of ISA-TR84.00.09-2013,
Security Countermeasures Related to
SIS. The recently approved technical re-
port is expected to be published in early
December 2013. It provides guidance on
the countermeasures used to reduce the
likelihood of a security breach of a safety-
instrumented system (SIS) that degrades
its ability to perform its function. This
relates to cybersecurity from both inside
New Benchmarks & Metrics | standards
ISAs ANSI-accredited procedures allow
experts from end-user companies to di-
rectly participate and vote, ensuring con-
sideration of the views and requirements
of those who will actually be deploying
wireless systems in real-world industrial
That end-user input is now evident in the growing
worldwide application of ISA-100.11a.
applications. That end-user input is now
evident in the growing worldwide appli-
cation of ISA-100.11a technology in pro-
cesses including oil and gas, liquefed nat-
ural gas (LNG), refning, petrochemicals,
chemicals, power, biopharmaceuticals,
thermal processing, and water treatment.
In a presentation at the 2013 ARC Fo-
rum, for example, C. B. Chakradhaar of
RasGas described the highly cost-effec-
tive application of ISA-100.11a-compli-
ant wireless temperature transmitters to
monitor a critical component in LNG pro-
duction. Based on that success, he indi-
and outside the plant boundary.
The fve additional winners of the award
were recognized for leadership and tech-
nical contributions in developing the re-
cently published ISA-TR106.00.01-2013,
Procedure Automation for Continuous
Process Operations Models and Termi-
nology. They are:
n Yahya Nazer, Dow Chemical
Company, ISA106 co-chair
n William Wray, Bayer MaterialScience,
ISA106 co-chair
n Marty King, Chevron Energy Technol-
ogy Company, ISA106 past co-chair
n David Emerson, Yokogawa, ISA106
lead editor
n Charles Green, Aramco Services
Company, ISA106 secretary
ISATR106.00.01-2013 addresses good
practices for procedure automation in
continuous process operations and strat-
cated, ISA-100.11a has been adopted as
a plantwide standard for all future wire-
less applications.
To read about other real-world applica-
tions of ISA-100.11a, visit www.isa100w-
ci.org/en-US/Applications/Success-Stories.
The extension of ISA-100.11a to the
IEC is the latest in a long and productive
collaboration. Many original ISA stan-
dards have been adopted to become
widely used IEC global standards in vital
areas including:
n ISA-84/IEC 61511 Functional Safety
n ISA-88/IEC 61512 Batch Control
n ISA-95/IEC 62264 Enterprise-Control
System Integration
n ISA-18/IEC 62682 Management of
Alarm Systems
n ISA-99/IEC 62443 Cyber Security for
Industrial Automation and Control
egies for incorporating automated pro-
cedures into industrial automation and
basic process control systems (BPCS). The
technical report complements the con-
cepts in key ISA standards that deal with
the use of procedures in specifc applica-
tions, including batch processing (ISA-88)
and safety systems (ISA-84). Many such
fundamental concepts are common to all
procedures without regard to the context
in which they are implemented, but there
are needs specifc to continuous process-
es. These needs are addressed in a proce-
dure requirements model, procedure im-
plementation model, and physical model
as well as in sections concerning map-
ping of procedures to BPCS components.
For more information about ISA Stan-
dards, contact Charley Robinson, crobin-
son@isa.org, +1 919-990-9213, or visit
www.isa.org/standards.
INTECH NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 53
product spotlight | Pressure Sensors

Focus on pressure sensors

Wireless pressure transmitter Digital pressure sensors

Emerson Process Management releases the Rosemount 3051 The Honeywell model DPS digital pressure sensors with CANo-
transmitter for measuring pressure, level, and pen are highly confgurable, so customers can choose from mul-
fow. The device wirelessly monitors assets tiple pressure types, accuracy levels, pressure ranges, pressure
and has fve-year stability and a 10-year connections, and electrical terminations to meet specifc appli-
power module life. Equipment failure is cation needs. Confgurations for digital measurements are fully
the cause of nearly half of an operations temperature compensated and calibrated for pressure ranges
downtime, yet many assets go unmoni- from 10 psi to
tored due to cost constraints. With the Rose- 10 K psi or 1
mount 3051 wireless pressure trans- bar to 700 bar
mitter, users can monitor many or 70 kPa to
assets throughout an operation 70,000 kPa,
with a 4060 percent cost savings with accuracy
over wired installations. ranges of 0.25
Unmonitored variations cause percent and
quality to degrade and throughput to 0.1 percent.
decrease. Increasing the number of measure- Operating and
ments provides better insight into the process storage tem-
and helps reduce variation, but the time and perature rang-
cost to add a new measurement can be a barrier. These de- es from 25C
vices allow operations to install additional measurement points to 85C (13F
quickly and economically, providing the precise and stable mea- to 185F). Built to withstand harsh environments, the protocol
surements needed to reduce variability and maximize throughput. communication allows customers to connect to longer cable
With the Rosemount 3051 wireless pressure transmitter, us- distances without sacrifcing accuracy. Customers can confg-
ers can monitor fow and pressure in compressed air, steam and ure the devices to meet their specifc application needs due
water systems to benchmark energy usage, identify energy sav- to a wide pressure range, multiple pressure engineering units
ings opportunities throughout an operation, and provide energy that eliminate having to make mathematical conversions, and
management and accurate internal billing. a choice of connectors that simplify use.
Emerson Process Management, www.emersonprocess.com Honeywell, www.honeywell.com

EJA series pressure transmitters

Yokogawa Corporation of America released the enhanced version weigh 30 percent less and have indica-
of the DPharp EJA series pressure/differential pressure transmitters. tors that are nearly twice the size of
While remaining in the same price range, the enhanced series now those on the nonenhanced version.
offers improved performance and functionality. As standard fea- Additionally, the optional ultra-low
tures, the devices have the same high-speed response and multi- copper aluminum housing can pro-
sensing functionality as the high-end DPharp EJX series. vide much improved corrosion resis-
Pressure/differential pressure transmitters are typically used in the tance over standard aluminum hous-
oil, petrochemical, and chemical industries to measure liquid, gas, ings, making it a suitable alternative to
and steam fow rates as well as liquid levels in tanks. The DPharp 316SS for offshore environments.
EJA series transmitters are compact, multipurpose sensors with a The transmitters now comply with the
large installed base. The transmitters simultaneously measure dif- IEC 61508 international safety standard
ferential and static pressure. A single enhanced EJA transmitter can on the functional safety of electrical/
measure both the liquid level and the pressure in a tank. Previously, electronic devices and are certifed for
this could only be done with two EJA transmitters. The response use in safety integrity level 2 applica-
time is now 90 ms, which equals the capability of the EJX series tions as stipulated by the IEC.
transmitters. Specifcally, this is the time from the detection of pres- Yokogawa Corporation of America,
sure to the output of an electric signal. The improved transmitters www.yokogawa.com

54 INTECH NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 WWW.ISA.ORG

 Hot Stuff for the Automation Market | products & resources

Model SP007 differential pressure transmitter
The Tecsis Model SP007 differential pressure transmitter has a
bidirectional wet/wet design that uses silicon technology for reli-
able data in tank level measurement. It monitors fow rate in
heat exchangers or flters and in a variety of test stand appli-
cations. The SP007 is built to perform in the most demanding
conditions with welded stainless-steel construction and a 3x-
safe overload rating. This unit is available in ranges from 01 to
0500 psid with standard accuracy of 0.25 percent, or optional
high accuracy of 0.1 percent.
Amplifed output of 05 VDC, 010 VDC or 420 mA is of-
fered, and there are fve electrical connections to choose from.
With six different pressure ports available, the SP007 will easily
integrate into most any system. Operating temperature is 40F
to 240F, compensated from 40F to 140F.
Tecsis, www.tecsis.com
Dry block calibrator
The Intempco DB100 Dry Block is a
miniature temperature calibrator that
is lightweight and portable. The unit
measures 6.25 in by 5 in by 2 in. The
dry block can be ordered with various
well sizes to ensure an optimal ft be-
tween the sensor and the controlled
thermal mass as well as to suit specifc
needs. It is factory calibrated using an advanced fuzzy logic con-
troller and has a four-digit LED display; the unit can be ordered
to indicate in either Fahrenheit or Celsius. The calibration range
is from ambient temperature plus 10C to 300C (86F to 570F).
Intempco, www.intempco.com
ATEX, IECEx, CSA, CRN, CE, RoHS as well as SIL 3 capability. Pres-
sure ranges from vacuum through 7500 psi are offered, along with
a broad selection of pressure inlet fttings.
Ashcroft, www.ashcroft.com
ProSense MPS25 pressure switches
AutomationDirect introduces the Pro-
Sense MPS25 series mechanical pressure
switches. These switches have an all-
welded 316 stainless-steel sealed dia-
phragm actuator design (for up to 100
psi) or a direct-acting 316 stainless-steel
piston design with a Buna-N O-ring (for
200 to 7500 psi). The 316 stainless-steel
housing resists vibration and shock while
providing reliable operation over a wide
operating temperature range. Pressure
ranges from vacuum to 7500 psig are available; all models include
a -inch NPT process connection and a precision snap-acting
SPDT, 3 A, mechanically operated switch output.
The mechanical pressure switches are available with an integral
6-foot cable with -inch NPT male conduit connector, or a DIN
175301-803C L-connector. The switches are UL, CSA, CE and
RoHS compliant and have a three-year warranty.
AutomationDirect, www.automationdirect.com

PX409-USBH pressure transducer

Omegas PX409-USBH series of
high-speed pressure transducers
connect directly to a computer and
feature long-term stability, 316L
SS wetted parts, and 1000/read-
ing/second capacity. They have
secondary containment. The micro-machined silicon design is
suitable for pressure or level applications in laboratory, test plat-
forms, or biopharmaceutical applications that require a rugged,
high-accuracy transducer.
Omega Engineering, www.omega.com

Explosion-proof pressure switch

The Ashcroft A-Series miniature
pressure switch is available in an SIL-
capable explosion-proof confgura-
tion for hazardous areas. With 316
stainless-steel construction, an IP67-
rated enclosure, and an operating
temperature range from 40C to
89C (40F to 192F), the dual-seal
rated pressure switch stands up to the most extreme environmen-
tal conditions. Agency approvals and certifcations include FM, UL,

INTECH NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 55

ad index

InTech advertisers are pleased to provide additional information about their products and services. To obtain further information,
please contact the advertiser using the contact information contained in their ads or the web address shown here.
Advertiser ......................................... Page #
Adalet ......................................................26
www.adalet.com
Additel Corporation .................................51
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ARC Advisory Group ................................56
www.arcweb.com
Arjay Engineering Ltd. .............................17
www.arjayeng.com
Advertiser ......................................... Page #
Cooper Bussmann ...........................Cover 3
www.cooperindustries.com
Crystal Engineering..................................39
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Emerson DeltaV........................................23
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Emerson Process Management ......Cover 4
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Advertiser ......................................... Page #
Endress+Hauser, Inc. ..................................9
www.endress.com
Honeywell ................................................43
www.honeywell.com
Honeywell Process Solutions ..............3, 15
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Intempco Controls......................................8
www.intempco.com
ISA .......................................................47, 50
www.isa.org
ITS Enclosures ...........................................42
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Magnetrol International ............................6
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MOXA Inc.........................................Cover 2
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Pepperl+Fuchs Inc. ...................................33
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ProComSol, Ltd. ........................................55
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Siemens...............................................28, 29
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Siemens Energy & Automation ...............21
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Vega Controls UK .....................................27
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Contact InTech today:

Richard T. Simpson
Advertising Sales Representative
Phone: +1 919-414-7395
Email: rsimpson@automation.com
Carol Schafer
Advertising Sales Representative
Phone: +1 919-990-9206
Email: cschafer@isa.org
Chris Shaw
Advertising Sales Representative
Phone: +44 (0) 1270 522130
Mobile: +44 (0) 7983 967471
Email: chris.shaw@chrisshawmedia.co.uk
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Advertising, Classifeds Section
Phone: +1 215-723-2861
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Matt Spitler
Advertising Materials Coordinator
Phone: +1 919-990-9308
Email: mspitler@isa.org

View and download the InTech media planner

at www.isa.org/intechadkit

56 INTECH NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 WWW.ISA.ORG

 datafles

Datafles list useful literature on products and services that

Sample of Jobs Available at ISAJobs.org are available from manufacturers in the instrumentation and
See more at ISAJobs.org, where you can process-control industry. To receive free copies of this literature,
search for available jobs or advertise positions please contact each manufacturer via their provided contact
available within your company. ISA Members information.
post resumes at no charge.
Industrial Pump Salespeople COM-TABLET:
R.F. MacDonald Co.: These two openings, based in Los Angeles, involve COMPLETE HART
directly selling pumps, pump-related equipment, and service to end COMMUNICATOR!
users, OEMs, and engineers. The positions require daily face-to-face The COM-TABLET is a com-
contact with customers. Salespeople need to be self-disciplined, pro- plete HART Communicator
fessional, and able to apply the proper product to the application. In for the Tablet PC. It includes
addition, they should have a four-year degree and be familiar with MS the Tablet PC loaded with
Offce and manufacturer-sizing programs . . . see more at ISAJobs.org. the DevCom2000 Smart
Device Communicator
Senior Application Engineer Software, the HM-BT-BAT-ER
Mitsubishi Electric Automation: The senior application engineer ex- Bluetooth HART Modem,
ecutes development activities to project plan, develops product migra- complete DD library, and a hard plastic carrying case. All components
installed, setup, and ready to go!
tion/conversion solutions and strategy, provides technical support to
customers and fellow employees, provides engineering design services, ProComSol, Ltd, Process Communications Solutions
maintains technical documents, investigates new technologies, and Tel. 216.221.1550; Fax 216.221.1554
provides technical training to educate other MEAU engineers. The po- sales@procomsol.com; www.procomsol.com; Toll Free 877.221.1551
sition, located in Northville, Mich., requires a B.S. degree in electrical,
industrial, or mechanical engineering, at least six years of experience
in engineering development and application development of complex
computer . . . see more at ISAJobs.org. classifeds
Instrumentation Technician
Webb Kentrol/Sevco: In this hands-on role, the instrumentation techni-
cian works with customers on-site to conduct calibrations and verifca-
tions and to troubleshoot problems with process control instruments
and control systems. The technician will call on customers throughout
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successful candidate must possess a strong aptitude with mechanical
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INTECH NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 57

the fnal say | Views from Automation Leaders
Workforce sustainability in the process industry:
Is there an experience gap?
By Tom OBanion
During a recent customer advisory board meeting
at Emersons Micro Motion, one of the top three
issues brought up by participants from the food,
beverage, chemical, oil and gas, and refning in-
dustries was workforce sustainability. When we
asked for more detail, the advisory board mem-
bers specifcally voiced concerns that as older
workers retire, tribal knowledge is getting lost. It
is not being transferred to the new and younger
replacements. The new hires are unaware of mea-
surement instrumentation capabilities and how to
maintain or troubleshoot the equipment in their
The new hires are unaware of measurement
instrumentation capabilities and how to maintain
or troubleshoot the equipment in their plants.
plants. Due to this knowledge gap, companies in
the process industry are asking for more training
from their instrument vendors. This training is be-
ing delivered in multiple ways via on-site, factory,
and web-based venues.
Process industries in the U.S. have seen a decline
in total employment during the past 20 years. For
instance, the approximate number of total em-
ployees in the U.S. chemical sector fell from about
923,000 to about 790,000 between January
2003 and January 2013 (U.S. Department of La-
bor, www.isa.org/link/USDOL). During this period,
production volume doubledand productivity and
global competitiveness increasedwhich was all
Tom OBanion (tom.obanion@emerson.com) is the
Chemical sector employment
ALL EMPLOYEES, THOUSANDS
900
850
800
01/03 01/04 01/05 01/06 01/07 01/08 01/09 01/10 01/11 01/12 01/13
Month/Year
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
58 INTECH NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 WWW.ISA.ORG
good for the industry. However, after two decades
with little or no hiring and workforce attrition, an
unanticipated experience gap developed. With the
lack of hiring, some companies who were previ-
ously famous for their training and development
greatly reduced or eliminated their technical train-
ing for new employees.
More recently, we have seen a substantial number
of retirements in these industries and an increase in
hiring. This experience gap has driven a renewed fo-
cus on training and development and caused com-
panies to rely on their suppliers for assistance.
We are also starting to see that our customers
equipment is aging. Much of their instrumenta-
tion and control equipment was purchased years
ago. The newer employeeswhile on average
better educatedare much less familiar with
these legacy devices.
This aging workforce is not just a problem for
the process industry; this is a trend that is starting
to play out across many industries and markets.
It is important to embrace this change and work
together to fnd ways to fx it. Training is a great
way to overcome this phenomenon. Companies
with employees who need development and train-
ing should closely align with vendors and groups,
such as local colleges and universities. If they can
work together to identify the training needs and
develop a curriculum that combines online and
classroom training, everyone wins.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
director of global chemical industry
marketing for Micro Motion, and
has been with them since 1987 in a
variety of marketing and sales roles.
These roles include greenhouse gas
compliance, process and natural
gas marketing development, and
technical sales management cover-
ing Canada, Taiwan, and mainland
China. He holds a B.S. degree in
chemical engineering degree from
the University of Colorado and an
MBA from the University of Den-
ver. Previous employers include
Conoco Oil and MW Kellogg (now
KBR). He is a retired triathlete
and competitive runner.
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